Last month, Helen Strahl addressed a gathering in Savannah, Georgia, where she confronted the changing dynamics of election denialism as the 2024 election approaches. Unlike previous gatherings that featured militia groups or radical figures, this audience consisted predominantly of retirees and professional women, many of whom donned glasses and T-shirts that read: “Got data?”
Identifying themselves as the Georgia Nerds, this volunteer organization has spent months scrutinizing voter rolls and voicing doubts about the integrity of the forthcoming presidential election before any votes had been cast.
“Can everyone hear me in the back?” Strahl, 65, inquired. After receiving a few negative responses, she adjusted her approach.
“I’ll raise my voice. Can you hear me now?”
A seasoned compliance officer, Strahl has recently discovered her political activism by utilizing a new Georgia law permitting private citizens to launch mass challenges to voter eligibility. In the past 18 months, she has raised objections against over a thousand voters in Chatham County, subtly altering the electoral landscape in this key coastal region and propelling conspiracy theories regarding widespread electoral fraud. She has contacted election officials to dispute the registration of seasonal workers temporarily residing out of state, homeless individuals lacking formal addresses, and nearly 700 students or alumni registered at Savannah State University, one of the nation’s oldest historically Black colleges.