NAACP says it is closely monitoring Georgia's election

ATLANTA - The National NAACP says it will be closely monitoring Georgia’s Election due to concerns that the Georgia Secretary of State and the Gubernatorial candidate is suppressing voters.

The nation’s oldest civil rights organization points to a report by the Associated Press that says Kemp is holding up 53,000 voter registration applications based on a new Georgia verification law. That measure gives first-time registrants twenty-six months to rectify failed verification through the Department of Driver’s Services or Social Security Administration.

Kemp, who is running for Governor against Democrat Stacy Abrams November 6, denies the claim and says voter registration has become easier under his administration.

A Kemp release says since January 2014 Georgia Election officials have processed 5,613,806 voter registration forms in Georgia. Kemp says less than one percent (.92 percent) of these applicants failed verification and sit in pending status.

“Under my tenure as Secretary of State, Georgia has shattered records for voter registration and turnout among all demographic groups,” Kemp affirms.

The NAACP Georgia state conference is asking Kemp to step down from office while running for Governor due to an “irremediable” conflict of interest.

“it’s a stain on our system of democracy when less than a month before an election which could produce the first African-American female governor in our nation’s history, we are seeing this type of voter suppression scheme attempted by a state official,” said NAACP President and CEO Derrick Johnson.