New American Voters in Georgia: Building the Electoral Power of Naturalized Voters

Published by Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta, CASA, GALEO, Latino Community Fund Georgia, NPNA, SEIU, August 2022.

The high stakes of the 2022 U.S. midterm elections showcase the urgency of engaging all eligible voters to ensure a fully participatory, representative democracy. In Georgia, a bloc of New American Voters — recently naturalized citizens that have earned the right to vote — has the potential to play an outsized role in the outcomes of critical federal and state races. This voting bloc is multiracial, multigenerational, geographically diverse, and majority female. New American Voters hold distinct ideologies, experiences, and viewpoints, and will be motivated by a variety of issues this November.

Georgia became the center of the political universe during the November 2020 presidential election, with newly naturalized citizens comprising a critical part of the record turnout among voters of color in the state. With a competitive Senate election (rated “toss up” by the Cook Political Report) and a contested gubernatorial election (rated “toss up” by the Cook Political Report) in 2022, Georgia will again be one of the most critical states during November elections.

Georgia ranks first in the nation in the New American Voters Impact Model, which was created by the National Partnership for New Americans (NPNA) and the U.S. Immigration Policy Center (USIPC) at the University of California, San Diego to showcase the potential electoral power of this critical voting bloc. This report offers data that illustrates how New American Voters can have an outsized impact.