A Georgia judge declined Tuesday to intervene in Georgia’s voter registration process, letting stand existing measures by state and local election officials to help applicants ahead of the Nov. 4 election.
The decision came after a two-hour hearing Friday, during which Fulton County Superior Court Judge Christopher Brasher seemed skeptical of a lawsuit that sought what he called an “extraordinary legal remedy.”
“What does the law require that they haven’t done?” Brasher asked during the hearing. “That’s what I’m a bit fuzzy about here.”
The national Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights filed the suit Oct. 10, alleging tens of thousands of voters who it believes registered properly have been lost in the system.
The group wanted court-ordered mandates, including for the state and three Georgia counties to hire more staff to process applications, investigate where they went or for a court-appointed monitor to issue recommendations.
State and county officials, however, said they have already processed all applications sent to them by the state’s Oct. 6 registration deadline. They also argued that plans already existed to assist voters, including working with local applicants to verify their information or allowing voters to cast provisional ballots on Election Day pending verification of their identity.
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