A federal judge in Georgia upheld provisions of the newly-enacted voting reform law that has failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams and other activists making claims of “voter suppression.” U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee declined to change the new law “in the ninth inning,” as the lawsuit filed by the Coalition for Good Governance requested. The left-leaning group took issue with limits on absentee ballots and asked the court to stop the state from enforcing the common-sense law.
Given the ongoing runoff elections for statewide seats in Georgia, Boulee declined to appease the group’s request and sided with the state, at least for now.
“Election administrators have prepared to implement the challenged rules, have implemented them at least to some extent and now would have to grapple with a different set of rules in the middle of the election,” the judge wrote, per Atlanta Journal Constitution. “The risk of disrupting the administration of an ongoing election ... outweigh the alleged harm to plaintiffs at this time.”
Great news! Positive step towards upholding more secure, accessible elections in Georgia.@GreaterGeorgia will continue working to defend election integrity and uphold SB202. https://t.co/WcC49gAab8
— Kelly Loeffler (@KLoeffler) July 7, 2021
The Biden administration’s Department of Justice (DOJ) is also suing Georgia for implementing common-sense voting provisions, including voter identification mandates. The Supreme Court recently upheld a similar law in Arizona, so the administration’s case is unlikely to be successful.