ATLANTA --- Georgia plans to sue the Obama administration, arguing the Justice Department is playing politics by blocking the state's efforts to check the citizenship of newly registered voters.
Secretary of State Brian Kemp said Tuesday that federal officials have for the third time rejected the state's system of using Social Security numbers and driver's license data to confirm whether prospective voters are U.S. citizens. He said the state intends to seek clearance instead in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.
Under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, Georgia and other states with a history of discriminatory voting practices must preclear any changes to election rules with the Justice Department or through the federal courts.
Kemp said the state will also ask the court to clear a separate law that passed last year in Georgia requiring newly registering voters to provide proof of citizenship. Gov. Sonny Perdue signed the measure, which was modeled after a similar law in Arizona.
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