DR. CARLOS DEL RIO

Tactic: Exact Match/Registration

County: Fulton

Occupation: Chair of the Department of Global Health Studies at the Rollins School of Public Health at Emory University

Dr. Carlos del Rio had correctly written his last name as “del Rio” on his voter registration form, but the Georgia DMV does not allow spaces between names, so his ID shows one word "delRio." He got to his polling place where he has voted for years, and was told that he wasn't registered and could not vote. He insisted that he was registered. He showed his ID and poll workers flagged the exact match discrepancy. Only when he reminded them that the exact match law had been struck down by a federal judge 4 days earlier was he allowed to vote. He recognized that only because he was informed and persistent, did he succeed in voting and that many others probably walked away. Del Rio is a Mexican immigrant and a highly acclaimed doctor, professor, and AIDS researcher.