ATLANTA — UPDATE: The Georgia State Election Board on Monday unanimously dismissed a vote-buying complaint against 34N22, a pro-Herschel Walker Super PAC that gave gas and grocery vouchers to residents across the state ahead of the 2022 U.S. Senate election.
However, members of the board expressed concern about future activities similar to the voucher giveaways. The board members also voted that a letter be sent to 34N22 meant to provide future giveaway guidelines.
"I think, at worst, you have some sloppiness going on," said board member Edward Lindsey. "But it appears that everyone got a voucher. I haven't seen evidence that someone was ever denied a voucher if they didn't vote for ... Herschel Walker."
11Alive first reported in October that the Georgia Secretary of State Office opened an investigation against the group.
Walker lost in a January 2022 runoff to Democratic U.S. Senate Raphael Warnock.
Original story: The Georgia Secretary of State’s Office is investigating 34N22, a pro-Herschel Walker Super PAC that has given gas and grocery vouchers to residents across the state, an agency spokesperson confirmed to 11Alive.
Secretary of State spokesperson Robert Sinners declined to comment on the allegations made in complaints that triggered the investigation against 34N22. The agency also declined to discuss the scope of the probe because it is ongoing.
A source close to the investigation told 11Alive that it is related to the group’s gas and grocery voucher giveaways. The matter will come before the State Elections Board once the Secretary of State’s Office completes its investigation.
Under federal election law, Super PACs exist as independent organizations and cannot directly donate to federal candidates or parties.
The probe comes months after Democrats and voting rights groups questioned the legality of the Super PAC’s gas voucher events in Atlanta. Representatives for 34N22 said earlier this year that the giveaways are legal because the recipients are given the vouchers without conditions. They are not required to be registered voters, and they do not have to vote for Walker.
Some outlets have reported that the giveaways appeared to be legal.
Carolyn “Tippi” Cain Burch, a Columbus attorney representing 34N22, made the same arguments about the group’s voucher giveaways in a letter sent to an investigator with the Secretary of State’s Office in September.
The organization also turned over documents and responded to questions from the Secretary of State’s Office, according to documents provided to 11Alive.
“34N22 did not directly or indirectly condition the distribution of vouchers on any recipient’s agreement to register to vote, to vote for or against any particular candidate, or to vote at all," Burch wrote. "No recipient was asked about his or her voter registration status, political party affiliation or candidate preferences prior or subsequent to the issuance of a voucher; and a recipient’s actual, stated or perceived voter registration status, political party affiliation, voting decisions, or candidate preferences in no way affected his or her eligibility for a voucher.”
Anthony Kreis, a professor at Georgia State University’s College of Law who specializes in constitutional law and American political development, told 11Alive that 34N22 could be operating in a “gray area.”
Georgia’s law around giveaways could be more restrictive than federal law, Kreis said. Under state law, “any person who gives or receives, offers to give or receive, or participates in the giving or receiving of money or gifts for the purpose of registering as a voter, voting, or voting for a particular candidate in any primary or election shall be guilty of a felony.”
“The language here is much more loose,” he said of Georgia's law. “I think that’s dancing very close. …It all depends on what you think the purpose of voting is. It seems much broader.”
In response to the investigation, 34N22 spokesperson Stephen Lawson said Democrats were "attacking" the organization.
"The Democrats are attacking us because Raphael Warnock is losing and they want to distract from his disastrous record of voting with Joe Biden 96 percent of the time to cause record inflation," he said. "Instead of preventing us from helping struggling Georgians get free gas and groceries, maybe Raphael Warnock and his allies should spend their time putting forward a solution to the crisis he created."
Early voting in Georgia’s Senate race began Oct. 17. 11Alive's exclusive poll conducted by SurveyUSA from Sept. 30 to Oct. 4 displayed Warnock with a wider lead over his challenger Walker.
According to polling projections from FiveThirtyEight, a website that focuses on politics and opinion poll analysis, Warnock narrowly leads Walker, 49.8% to 48.6%.