Jerry LambeDec 29th, 2020, 12:08 pm
U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner
A federal judge on Monday evening sided with a voting rights organization seeking to prevent two counties from purging thousands of “targeted voters” from their voting rolls less than two weeks ahead of the state’s highly consequential Senate runoff elections.
The controversy stems from the election boards in Ben Hill County and Muscogee County voting to remove the names of more than 4,000 individuals whom they claimed had moved out of state based on unverified data obtained from the National Change of Address (NCOA) registry. “Targeted voters” those whose names appeared on the NCOA registry list attempting to vote in-person would only be permitted to cast provisional ballots, while those seeking to vote via mail would have to provide additional evidence of residency before being sent a ballot.
By Dominick Mastrangelo - 12/29/20 07:38 AM EST
A judge in Georgia ruled on Monday that two of the state s counties cannot invalidate voting registrations based on unverified change of address data.
“Defendants are enjoined from removing any challenged voters in Ben Hill and Muscogee Counties from the registration lists on the basis of National Change of Address data,” U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner wrote in an order, according to Reuters.
Abrams Gardner is the sister of former Democratic candidate for governor and voting rights activist Stacey Abrams.
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The two counties had sought to purge thousands of voters from the rolls based on what local election officials called unreliable change of address data. The vast majority of them included 4,000 in Muscogee County, which President-elect Joe Biden
Federal judge blocks GOP bid to throw out voter records in Georgia
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Georgia residents fill out voting forms as they wait to cast a ballot in the 2020 election, at the Mountain Park Activity Center in Stone Mountain, Ga., on October 23. File Photo by Tami Chappell/UPI | License Photo
Dec. 29 (UPI) A federal judge has rejected efforts by elections officials in two Georgia counties to cancel thousands of voter registrations ahead of next week s key runoff races that will determine control of the U.S. Senate.
U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner issued an injunction to block officials in Muscogee and Ben Hill counties from dismissing the registrations.
Tue Dec 29, 2020
Stealing an election the old fashioned way. The classics never go out of style A federal judge in Georgia on Monday ordered two counties to reverse a decision removing more than 4,000 voters from the rolls ahead of the Jan. 5 runoff elections that will decide control of the U.S. Senate.
The judge, Leslie Abrams Gardner the sister of former gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, a prominent ally of President-elect Joe Biden who has led voter registration efforts across the state concluded that the counties appeared to have improperly relied on unverified change-of-address data to invalidate registrations in the two counties.
Politics
Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at 4:00 am | י ד טבת תשפ א (Reuters) -
Tuesday, December 29, 2020 at 4:00 am | י ד טבת תשפ א
A sign in an Atlanta neighborhood on Dec. 11 urges people to vote early in Georgia’s two Senate races. (AP Photo/Jeff Amy)
A federal judge on Monday ordered two Georgia counties to reverse a decision removing thousands of voters from the rolls ahead of Jan. 5 runoff elections that will determine which political party controls the Senate.
The counties seemed to have improperly relied on unverified change-of-address data to invalidate registrations, the judge, Leslie Abrams Gardner, said in her order filed late on Monday in the U.S. District Court for the Middle District of Georgia.