A Federal Court Just Ruled That Thousands of Eligible Voters in Georgia Must Be Allowed to Vote

Thousands of eligible voters in Georgia who were blocked from registering to vote must be allowed to cast a ballot in the 2018 midterm election next week, a federal court ruled on Friday. The decision could have a big impact on the incredibly tight race for governor that has been marred by Republican voter suppression efforts.

More than 50,000 voters in the state have had their voter registration applications put on hold by Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who is running for governor against Democrat Stacey Abrams, because information on their registration forms didn’t exactly match state databases. 

These eligible voters are supposed to be given a ballot if they show up at the polls with proof of US citizenship, but that policy hasn’t been fairly enforced in Georgia, the court found following a legal challenge against Kemp filed by voting rights groups, including the Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Campaign Legal Center, on October 19.

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