ACLU of Georgia sues Fulton County over polling location changes

Jujuan Odom, 23, votes at a voting station at the Southwest Branch Library in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday, March 21, 2017. Residents of South Fulton voted today for mayor and city council positions. (DAVID BARNES / DAVID.BARNES@AJC.COM)

Jujuan Odom, 23, votes at a voting station at the Southwest Branch Library in Atlanta, Georgia, on Tuesday, March 21, 2017. Residents of South Fulton voted today for mayor and city council positions. (DAVID BARNES / DAVID.BARNES@AJC.COM)

The ACLU of Georgia filed a lawsuit Tuesday claiming the Fulton County elections board did not give the public enough notice before it approved changes last week that affected several majority African-American precincts.

The suit is asking a Fulton judge to rescind the vote until the changes can be re-publicized.

Fulton Director of Elections and Registration Richard Barron declined comment on the suit because it was pending litigation.

State law requires notice of polling location changes to be published once a week for two consecutive weeks. In this case, Fulton officials published notices in The Daily Report on July 7 and again on July 10 — a Friday and then a Monday. The board then voted to approve the changes on Thursday.

The ACLU claims the board should have waited to vote until at least 14 days had passed, something the law does not specify.

To read more about the changes and which neighborhoods they affected, click here to read our premium story on myAJC.com.