A federal judge on Thursday said she will not order the presidential battleground state of Georgia to reopen voter registration for November’s elections despite recent disruptions to registration caused by Hurricane Helene.
The ruling by US District Judge Eleanor Ross rejected arguments that the state should reopen registration until next Monday. The registration deadline was last Monday and she said in her ruling from the bench on Thursday afternoon that there would be no extension.
A lawsuit filed by the Georgia conference of the NAACP, the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda and the New Georgia Project had argued that damage and disruptions from Hurricane Helene unfairly deprived people of the opportunity to register.
All three groups said they had to cancel voter registration activities last week. Historically, there is a spike in Georgia voter registrations just before the deadline, the plaintiffs said.
Ross had expressed scepticism about the plaintiffs’ claim in an earlier hearing on Wednesday before setting an additional hearing on Thursday.
