From AJC.com:

Kemp on Tuesday sent Baker a letter asking him to appoint counsel to sue the Justice Department in the U.S. District Court in Washington. The department has blocked Kemp, and former Secretary of State Karen Handel before him, from permanently implementing a system Handel designed to check the citizenship of Georgians when they register to vote.

Baker spokesman Russ Willard said the attorney general is still considering Kemp’s request but believes the administrative route of seeking pre-clearance will save both time and money. Kemp said the Justice Department, led by Democratic President Barack Obama, is playing politics to deny a Republican initiative.

Handel had unilaterally implemented the program prior to the 2008 elections in response to enactment in Congress of the federal Help America Vote Act. But the Justice Department under former President George W. Bush found that Handel should have gotten pre-clearance from the Justice Department under the requirements of the federal Voting Rights Act. A federal judge later ordered Handel to seek pre-clearance.

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