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| Democratic gubernatorial candidate for Georgia Stacey Abrams, from left, speaks as her Republican opponent Secretary of State Brian Kemp looks on during a debate in Atlanta on Oct. 23, 2018. Associated Press |
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Judge orders Georgia officials to stop rejecting absentee ballots without letting voters fix them first
Associated Press
Wed Oct 24, 2018
Category: U.S. News
Area: Atlanta
ATLANTA - Georgia election officials must stop rejecting absentee ballots and applications because of a mismatched signature without first giving voters a chance to fix the problem, a federal judge said Wednesday in a ruling that could impact the race for governor where voting rights has become a major issue.
U.S. District Judge Leigh May ordered the secretary of state's office to instruct county election officials to stop the practice for the November midterm elections. She outlined a procedure to allow voters to resolve alleged signature discrepancies.
Secretary of State Brian Kemp, a Republican who oversees elections in the state, and Democrat Stacey Abrams sparred over voting rights and allegations of suppression in their first debate on Tuesday night. The race is neck and neck, polls show.
Kemp accused Abrams of encouraging undocumented immigrants to vote illegally, while Abrams charged her rival with mass purging voters, many of whom are African-Americans.
May's order comes in response to two lawsuits filed earlier this month allege that election officials are improperly rejecting absentee ballots. The lawsuits said the rejections without first letting voters challenge the determination violated voters' constitutional rights.
May gave the parties until noon Thursday to comment on whether the language in her order is "confusing or will be unworkable" for election officials.
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