Judge clears way for legal challenge to Georgia’s restrictive voting law 

A federal judge on Thursday rejected a request to dismiss a legal challenge to Georgia’s restrictive GOP-crafted voting law, clearing the way for the suit to proceed.

The lawsuit, filed this spring by the Georgia NAACP and other groups, alleges that the state’s new voting limits threaten to illegally suppress the vote of minority groups.

Legal challenges immediately arose after Gov. Brian Kemp (R) in March signed a sweeping elections bill that limits the use of ballot drop boxes, adds photo ID requirements for absentee voting and imposes other restrictions.

Among the defendants are Georgia’s Republic Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the Georgia Republican Party and other state officials, who in May asked for the case to be tossed.

On Thursday, U.S. District Judge Jean-Paul Boulee, a Trump appointee, rejected that request. 

Without ruling definitively on the merits of the allegation, Boulee found the challengers had made a plausible claim that the Georgia law was designed with a discriminatory purpose in violation of constitutional protections and the 1965 Voting Rights Act — or could produce that result. 

Boulee on Thursday also indicated that he was considering a move that would consolidate the Georgia NAACP suit with other similar lawsuits filed by voting rights advocates and other plaintiffs.

The Georgia voting law is among dozens of GOP-backed measures being considered by state legislatures across the country after former President Trump lied repeatedly about the 2020 presidential election being stolen through widespread voter fraud, a claim that is not supported by evidence.

The complaint filed by the Georgia NAACP alleges that the Georgia voting law arose from a “concerted effort” by Kemp and Republican state lawmakers “to suppress the participation of Black voters and other voters of color.” 

It claims the restrictions are a GOP response to demographic changes that contributed to the state favoring Democratic candidates in recent elections.

Updated 5:05 p.m.