With two upcoming runoff elections next week, a federal judge upheld the polarizing Georgia election reforms — at least for now.
The decision by U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee on Wednesday effectively declined a request to block the state from enforcing provisions of the legislation, Fox News reported.
The laws — which President Joe Biden referred to as “Jim Crow on steroids” — have been a partisan battle to secure election security and integrity following the concerns of the 2020 election.
Activists from the Coalition for Good Governance filed suit against the state, aiming specifically at provisions related to photographing and monitoring the election process. They also argued that the tighter deadline for requesting absentee ballots should be blocked.
Because two house districts are set to hold special elections on Tuesday, Boulee decided against granting their request as it would be “disrupting the administration of an ongoing election.”
Executive director of the Coalition for Good Governance Marilyn Marks indicated her disappointment with the current result, though she noted hope for the future, according to Fox News.
Georgia Republicans may see this as a win, but much of Boulee’s decision had to do with the close proximity of the filing to the special elections, rather than the provisions of the law itself.
Since the law is in effect, changing it right before the special elections would, as Judge Boulee noted, “change the law in the ninth inning.”
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called this the latest in “a line of frivolous lawsuits” and said the state will “meet and beat them in court.”