A mix of institutions and interest groups are suing the law, which went into effect this year, claiming it is discriminatory and violates constitutional rights.
ATLANTA — A spate of lawsuits against Georgia’s electoral law continues after a federal district judge on Thursday denied requests by the state to dismiss it.
The Associated Press reported that following a series of rulings by federal judge JP Boulee, a Trump-appointed judge who overturned the arguments of Georgia State defendants – Gov. Brian Kemp and Sec. Attorney Brad Raffensperger among them – for dismissing the lawsuits.
A mix of institutions and interest groups are suing the lawsuits to stop the law, which went into effect this year, claiming it is discriminatory and violates constitutional rights.
Georgia and its associate defendants had argued both that the groups filing the lawsuit had no merit and that the case should be dismissed on its merits.
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In one of the lawsuits, groups suing Georgia include the Sixth Circuit of the African Methodist Episcopal Church, the Southern Christian Leadership Conference and several other constituency groups and community organizations.
Judge Boulee found in that lawsuit, among other things, that the voting rights coalition made “a plausible discriminatory purpose claim” to the law that was at least sufficient to warrant the lawsuit being heard.
The law, signed earlier this year, introduced a slew of new provisions as Georgia lawmakers’ Republican response to resentment surrounding the 2020 presidential election and allegations of fraud.
It required an absentee ballot, reduced access to Dropboxes, and added an early voting tag, among other things.
One of the most controversial of these provisions was to prevent groups from distributing food and water to those on the voting line.
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Judge Boulee found that, at least at the stage of motion to dismiss the lawsuit, the Coalition “made plausible allegations that (the electoral law) restrictions on line relief impeded speech and/or expression in any way”.
Collectively, the lawsuits allege violations of the United States Constitution, the Voting Rights Act, the Americans with Disabilities Act, the Rehabilitation Act and/or the Civil Rights Act by causing “discrimination, undue burden on the right to vote, immaterial voting.” Requirement and restriction of freedom of speech and opinion.”
The law sparked political fire in Georgia after its passage, with Democrats scathingly criticizing it as an attack on voting rights and the equivalent of “Jim Crow 2.0,” which, among other things, resulted in Major League Baseball’s All-Star Game removed Atlanta from the game.
Georgia’s republican officials firmly opposed this framing. Kemp called the criticism “lies and misinformation” and said the law “ensures Georgia’s elections are safe, accessible and fair.”
In Atlanta’s recent mayoral election, the law appeared to result in at least some votes not being cast. CNN reported that about half of the rejections of mail-in ballot applications were due to voters who missed the new deadline for submitting those applications.
Of those who were rejected, only about a quarter of the voters went to the polls in person to cast their vote anyway.
