Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger appears to have referred a high-profile case of alleged voter residency violations involving Republican Congressman Drew Ferguson to the Georgia State Election Board. This development comes as tens of thousands of records suggesting similar residency issues have gone uninvestigated by the state.
In December 2022, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution published a story questioning three votes cast by Ferguson from Georgia’s 3rd Congressional District in the 2022 election cycle. The article reported that Ferguson cast three votes in Troup County, Georgia, where he had lived for years, after moving to his new home in Pike County, Georgia.
Under Georgia law, a permanent change of address to a new county requires reregistration for a voter to remain qualified. Ferguson sold his Troup County house in April 2022, but considering he reportedly voted during early voting for the primary, general election, and U.S. Senate runoff, only one of those three votes could have been cast within the 30-day grace period.
The original AJC story noted that the secretary of state’s office had not opened a case to investigate the issue of Ferguson’s residency because they had not received a complaint. However, a January 2023 follow-up article reported that the secretary of state’s office had opened an investigation into the matter. A December 2023 follow-up announced Ferguson’s decision not to seek reelection in 2024.
In response to an open records request asking for information on the status of their investigation into Ferguson, the secretary of state’s office said the case is “currently pending presentation to the State Election Board.”
Raffensperger will likely receive praise for having the “courage” to bring a case against a fellow Republican, while knowing that if the allegations against Ferguson are accurate, he is only one of tens of thousands of Georgia voters who may have violated residency laws in general elections over recent years.
