A federal judge will hear more evidence on whether to reopen voter registration in Georgia

Source: ABC News/AP

October 9, 2024, 6:02 PM


ATLANTA -- At least for now, a federal judge won’t order the state of Georgia to reopen voter registration for November’s elections. U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross ruled after a Wednesday hearing that three voting rights groups haven’t yet done enough to prove that damage and disruptions from Hurricane Helene unfairly deprived people of the opportunity to register last week.

Monday was Georgia’s registration deadline. Instead, Ross set another hearing for Thursday to consider more evidence and legal arguments. Ross questioned whether the groups proved they suffered injuries, noting the plaintiffs haven't yet produced a single person who says they were unable to register to vote because of the storm.

“You didn’t bring me close enough to see the injury,” Ross said in denying the plaintiffs' request. State officials and the state Republican Party argue it would be a heavy burden on counties to order them to register additional voters as they prepare for early in-person voting to begin next Tuesday.

The lawsuit was filed by the Georgia conference of the NAACP, the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda and the New Georgia Project. All three groups say they had to cancel voter registration activities last week. Historically, there’s a spike in Georgia voter registrations just before the deadline, the plaintiffs said.

Read more: https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/federal-judge-hear-evidence-reopen-voter-registration-georgia-114660712