The voting rights groups in Georgia requested to extend the voter registration deadline due to disruptions caused by Hurricane Helene. However, the request was rejected by a federal judge on Thursday. The judge ruled that the groups failed to prove that their members would be harmed if the deadline was not extended. Additionally, there are no state laws that allow for such an extension to be ordered by the Governor or Secretary of State.
The groups argued that power and internet outages, election office closures, and disruptions to the postal service were hindering registration efforts in Georgia. They stated that failing to extend the deadline would disenfranchise voters, particularly those in counties with large Black populations. Despite reports of difficulties in using the online voter registration platform, the judge found that there was insufficient evidence linking these issues to the hurricane’s impact.
The ruling emphasized that the state’s interests outweighed those of the plaintiffs, as an extension could disrupt the election process where absentee ballots had already been mailed and early in-person voting was scheduled to begin. Georgia is a key battleground state in the presidential race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
In response to the ruling, the NAACP highlighted the importance of ensuring a fair election process and called for the voter registration deadline to be extended to allow impacted communities to fully participate in the election. This decision came after a similar request was denied in Florida, showing the challenges faced in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene.
The Epoch Times has reached out to Gov. Brian Kemp’s office for comment. Please rewrite the following sentence to make it more clear:
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