Perdue has appointed Anne W. Lewis to serve as special attorney general. The governor also appointed Frank B. Strickland and Bryan P. Tyson as deputy special attorneys general.
Lewis is tasked with seeking approval for Georgia's system of using Social Security numbers and driver's license data to confirm whether prospective voters are U.S. citizens.
Secretary of State Brian Kemp, whose office oversees elections, in February said the Obama administration was playing politics when federal officials for the third time rejected the system. He said then the state intended to seek clearance instead in U.S. District Court in the District of Columbia.
"I am proud that we are taking this step to protect the integrity, security and fairness of Georgia's elections," Kemp said in a statement Wednesday.
The state is also seeking approval for a separate law that passed last year requiring newly registered voters to provide proof of citizenship.
Under the federal Voting Rights Act of 1965, Georgia and other states with a history of discriminatory voting practices must preclear any changes to election rules with the Justice Department or through the federal courts.
Implemented in 2007, the state's voter verification system had checked new voters against information in databases held by the Georgia Department of Driver Services or Social Security Administration.
After a challenge was filed by voting rights groups in the weeks leading up to the 2008 elections, a federal three-judge panel said the state must seek Justice Department preclearance under the Voting Rights Act.
The Justice Department's Civil Rights Division rejected the checks in May and October of last year.
In a Feb. 22 letter, Assistant Attorney General Thomas Perez said Georgia had not submitted any information persuading officials in Washington to change their mind.
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