STACY ABRAMS: Maintaining clean voter rolls is absolutely appropriate, but the vigor with which he did so--a perfect example is the 92-year-old civil rights activist who's lived in the West End of Atlanta for more than 40 years, has voted in every single election since 1968, and was removed from the polls. She went to vote, and had to take more than 2 hours to get a provisional ballot. This is someone who has never failed to vote. The problem we have is that it's death by 1,000 cuts. It's not sufficient to simply purge voters from the rolls for inactivity. He removed voters who were eligible. And the larger issue is this. Trust in our democracy relies on believing that there are good actors who are making this happen. And he was a horrible actor who benefited from his perfidy.
The injunction would seek to reopen voter registration in Georgia to ensure that 53,000 registrants on hold in Kemp's office--and possibly others affected by an outage of the Georgia Department of Driver Services and the state's voter registration website--would be allowed to register for the upcoming election. The last day to register to vote was Tuesday.
The strict policies enforced by Kemp's office for voter registration and verification have been under scrutiny in his gubernatorial campaign. Under Kemp's verification policies, voter application information must perfectly match information on file. If they don't match precisely, officials can put the application on hold.
An analysis conducted by The Associated Press found that almost 70% of the registrants currently on hold are black. Georgia's population is 32% black. [Kemp's gubernatorial opponent Stacey] Abrams needs strong African-American turnout in the state to win the governor's race. Allies of Abrams argue that Kemp is deliberately trying to purge voter rolls to his advantage.
Kemp's office said in a statement in July, "Despite any claim to the contrary, it has never been easier to register to vote in Georgia and actively engage in the electoral process. The numbers do not lie."
"Yes, sir," Jake, a young man in khakis, responds.
"Jake asked why I was running for governor," Kemp says. He prompts Jake to list off: to "cap government spending," to "take a chainsaw to regulations," and to "make Georgia number one for small business."
"And two things if you're going to date one of my daughters?" Kemp then asks.
"Respect," Jake answers. "And a healthy respect for the Second Amendment, sir."
Kemp then cocks the gun up, apparently toward Jake, and then says, "We're going to get along just fine."
[Ad fades to a scene showing framed family photos including teenage girls, with caption, "Brian Kemp, Conservative Businessman for Governor."]
[Twitter posting links to TV campaign ad outlining 4-point plan and emphasizing respect for the Second Amendment]
"If we're growing jobs and better paying jobs in rural Georgia and helping the small business owners then people will have more money in their pockets to spend on tourism, we're going to have more products coming in and out of the ports," Sec. of State Kemp said. He says the only way those parts of the local economy can improve is by focusing on improving the economies of rural areas. He says one way to do that is by helping to improve and expand agricultural technologies throughout the region. "If we're doing that, that's going to be good for issues like water and our economy," Sec. of State Kemp said.
The two have long been on opposite sides of the debate over elections issues, with Kemp advocating for stricter voter ID laws to prevent what he called the threat of illegal voters casting ballots and Abrams contending those new rules could disenfranchise minorities, the disabled and the elderly.
But they clashed the sharpest during the 2014 after Abrams new voter registration group, the New Georgia Project, which said it submitted 86,000 voter registration forms during the 2014 cycle, but Kemp's office argued that tens of thousands of applications were either missing or had not been properly submitted.
The Athens Republican took broadsides against "fake news" and the well-connected political status quo. And he talked in tough terms about Georgia's efforts to block those in the country illegally from voting or receiving state benefits. "This is Georgia," he said. "We will be putting Georgia first."
Kemp said he did not plan to step down from his role as Georgia's top elections officer through the campaign. That would give him a statewide platform through November 2018, but also would deny him about three months of fundraising during next year's legislative session.
In December 2011, Kemp launched the Invest Georgia Exemption (IGE) through his office's Securities Division. The IGE gives Georgia businesses the ability to raise up to $1 million from Georgia residents in a public offering.
This new form of "crowdfunding" provides greater investment opportunities for Georgia citizens and promotes the growth of Georgia's small businesses. It is the perfect conservative policy solution that empowers entrepreneurs to succeed rather than government picking "winners and losers" in the marketplace. 31 businesses have filed for the IGE since its inception.
Secretary Kemp also implemented his Stop Voter Fraud website and Voter Fraud Hotline allowing citizens to report questionable election activities online or by phone. Additionally, Kemp's Investigations Division increased its partnerships with state and local law enforcement to investigate and prosecute voter fraud.
Under Secretary Kemp's leadership, Georgia's elections are secure, accessible and fair. Kemp continues his efforts every day to stop voter fraud and make it as easy as possible for all citizens to participate in the democratic process.
The Georgia Secretary of State's office oversees elections, corporations, securities, and professional licensing boards, and also controls the state archives and the Capitol museum.
Secretary Kemp served in the Georgia State Senate from 2002-2006.
Brian, 46, is married to the former Marty Argo of Athens. They are the proud parents of three daughters and are actively involved in various school activities with their children and various charities. The Kemps are active members of Emmanuel Episcopal Church in Athens.
He also launched a new My Voter Page or "MVP" program that allows Georgians to view their sample ballot, find early voting locations and times, find their Election Day polling place, verify the status of their voter registration, and much more, all on their computers or mobile devices.
Because of Brian Kemp's visionary and conservative leadership, Georgia is the first state in the nation to offer a mobile app that includes the convenience of the MVP program and online voter registration.
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The above quotations are from 2018 Georgia Gubernatorial race: debates and news coverage.
Click here for other excerpts from 2018 Georgia Gubernatorial race: debates and news coverage. Click here for other excerpts by Brian Kemp. Click here for other excerpts by other Governors.
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