Georgia judge rules against civil rights groups on voter registrations

The Hill ^ | October 28, 2014 | Cameron Joseph

[jazusamo]

A Georgia judge has denied a push from civil rights groups to force the state's secretary of State to add 40,000 recently registered voters to the rolls, a setback for groups working to register minority voters that could have a big impact on Georgia's hotly contested races next week.

Judge Christopher Brasher has declined to issue a writ of mandamus filed by Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, the New Georgia Project and the Georgia branch of the NAACP that would have forced Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp (R) and local counties to make sure the voters the New Georgia Project and the NAACP had registered can vote next week. The suit was brought by the groups after roughly one third of the more than 100,000 mostly minority voters they'd registered hadn't appeared on the rolls, potentially disenfranchising thousands of mostly Democratic voters. The decision could lead to chaos next week as they try to vote and are forced to do so provisionally, and may well lead to additional legal challenges after the election.

Georgia has a number of close races including tight Senate and gubernatorial battles and a hard-fought reelection fight for Rep. John Barrow (D-Ga.).

The groups that lost the court decision are furious — and are already hinting at further legal action.

"We are deeply disappointed by Judge Brasher's decision, which acknowledges the burdens placed on voters but does not provide them with the relief of knowing that they will be permitted to vote in this election," Georgia state Rep. Stacey Abrams (D), the head of the New Georgia Project, said in a statement. "The inadequate remedy of a provisional ballot should disturb every Georgian who values the right to vote. The New Georgia Project will continue to pursue all legal avenues available, not only to serve the voters that we know may be silenced in this election, but to bring transparency and progress to those who wish to exercise their franchise in the future."

Others suggested judge was playing politics.

"A Republican-appointed judge has backed the republican Secretary of State to deny the right to vote to a largely African American and Latino population. It is outrageous that Georgians' rights are being ignored," Dr. Francys Johnson, president of the Georgia Conference of the NAACP, said in a statement.

[stephenjohnbanker]

” It never went into why they weren’t registered in time.”

1) illegals

2) felons

3) don’t even exist

[wrench]

You forgot aliases and maiden names. Any name that shows up anywhere deserves a vote.

[stephenjohnbanker]

Exactly.

[SharpRightTurn]

“’A Republican-appointed judge has backed the republican Secretary of State to deny the right to vote to a largely African American and Latino population. It is outrageous that Georgians’ rights are being ignored,’ Dr. Francys Johnson, president of the Georgia Conference of the NAACP, said in a statement.”

Shove it, Francys. We’re tired of your bellyaching just because you can’t get your rent-a-voters to follow the same rules everyone else is expected to follow.

[Iron Munro]

It sounds like the potential “voters” were not registered on time or not in accordance with the law.

Meeting the deadline presented an undue hardship since most of them were still in Guatemala or sealed in a concrete burial vault under six feet of red clay.

[Wuli]

did I miss something, or does the article leave out why the judge ruled as he did, according to the record of the ruling?

I’m not questioning the ruling; I merely seek the judge’s reasoning.

[Nateman]

Here are the facts of the case this article leaves out. The names were not entered because they were incomplete or had other problems. The state did what it could by mailing notices to problem registrations. Of course of they were bogus that would amount to nothing, but the bad guys obviously wanted those bogus entries in order to stuff the ballot box. No wonder the article left out the details.

[Nateman]

I suspect this article is getting the sheeple ready next big lie. After the RATS get the beating they so richly deserve they will claim it was stolen from them rather than due to voters reacting to mess the RATS have made. The truth is they they were preventing from stealing the election like they wanted.

[jazusamo]

Here an article with the ruling:

A Fulton County judge’s ruling: ‘No proof’ of lost registered voters

[Conserv]

3rd straight poll in a row has Perdue beating Nunn.

http://www.realclearpolitics.com/epolls/2014/senate/ga/georgia_senate_perdue_vs_nunn_vs_swafford-5253.html

[ViLaLuz]

These potential voters disenfranchised themselves by waiting until the last minute to register.

[freeangel]

mmmm—a provisional vote might settle thclaims that they were not allowed to vote. But then, that wouldn’t push along the voter fraud that these racists too commonly use.

[Wuli]

Thanks. Too bad the news article had less of the important thing - the judge’s reasoning.