A Georgia judge ruled on Monday that two counties in the state cannot invalidate voter records based on unverified change of address data.
“Defendants are prohibited from removing any contested voters in Ben Hill and Muscogee counties from registration lists based on national change of address data,” wrote US District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner in an order, according to Reuters .
Abrams Gardner is the sister of the former Democratic candidate for governor and voting activist Stacey Abrams.
The two counties tried to wipe out thousands of voters from the lists based on what local election officials called unreliable change of address data. The vast majority of them included 4,000 in Muscogee County, whose elected president Joe Biden
Joe BidenMichigan Mayor draws criticism with Facebook posts suggesting rebellion: Trump report names Roisman interim SEC president, Biden appointed to the Interior discusses environmental injustice with tribal leaders MORE won for a large sum in November and another 150 in Ben Hill County.
The lawsuit was filed by Democracy Forward, a legal group led by a Democratic lawyer, Politico said.
“We continue to monitor how other counties in Georgia respond to the suppression scheme,” said attorney Marc Elias. “Where necessary, we will sue and win.”
The initial challenge to voter registration lists was presented by a citizen who told officials in Muscogee that he had accessed publicly available voting data to claim that some voters on the lists had moved from Georgia.
More than 2 million people in the state have already voted before the January 5 Senate election, a dispute that will determine control of the United States Senate.
Both President Trump
Donald TrumpTrump calls for an end to “religious persecution worldwide” on the 850th anniversary of Thomas Becket’s death. The interview with Michael Cohen raises questions after he mentions friends from prison ‘Tony Meatballs and Big Minty’ Ocasio-Cortez against Democrats and Republicans who opposed $ 1,000 direct payments MORE and Biden have held rallies in Georgia in recent weeks, urging their supporters to come back and help their party gain control of the Upper House.