Worried that city officials will reject large numbers of signatures, organizers have collected far more than required.
Only about 58,000 signatures from registered voters are needed to place a citizens’ referendum on the ballot in Atlanta, or about 15 percent of the population, according to local reports. However, coalition organizers say they heard reports from inside City Hall that officials may base the requirement on the number of voters registered for the last election, including inactive voters, which would bring the number up to around 62,000.
Stop Cop City activists fear city officials may attempt to invalidate large numbers of signatures with aggressive “signature matching,” a practice that civil rights groups have. On Monday, the Atlanta City Council was reportedly preparing to vote on a resolution to hire outside legal counsel to verify signatures.
Voting rights advocates are critical of “signature matching,” arguing that minute differences between them could be used to throw signatures out, with signatures from marginalized voters such as those with disabilities disproportionately impacted. Thehas successfully filed legal challenges in multiple states where absentee ballots were wrongly discarded due to signature matching, but Waldon said the process in Atlanta would be transparent.
In late July, a federal judge ruled in favor of the canvassers and against the city, allowing non-Atlanta residents to collect signatures. The ranks of canvassers swelled with activists and volunteers, andThe judge also extended the deadline for submitting signatures to September 23, giving the canvassers more time to collect signatures in case the city attempts to invalidate them in large numbers.
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