澳彩开奖

础罢尝础狈罢础听鈥� A federal court in the Northern District of Georgia issued rulings today in response to emergency motions filed by civil rights groups to lift restrictions put in place by Georgia鈥檚 anti-voter law, Senate Bill 202 for the 2024 elections.

The rulings blocked portions of the bill that ban Georgians from providing food and water to voters waiting in lines more than 150-feet from the polls, and that require voters to unnecessarily include their birthdate on absentee ballot envelopes.

The challenged portions of SB 202 added impediments to voting that made it harder for all Georgians to vote, particularly voters of color. The lawsuit 鈥斅�Sixth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church v. Kemp聽鈥� was filed in 2021.

The court sided with the plaintiffs in ruling that Georgia鈥檚 ban on providing food and water to voters waiting in lines further than 150 feet from the polls likely violated their First Amendment right to free expression. Groups and individuals may now provide relief to voters in the 2024 elections who are waiting in long lines that stretch more than 150 feet from the polling location entrance.

The court also struck down, for purposes of the 2024 elections, the requirement that Georgia voters provide their birthdate on their absentee ballot envelope or have their ballot rejected.

Because Georgia determines whether someone is qualified to vote not only upon registration but also through the absentee ballot application process, the court ruled that rejecting a voter鈥檚 absentee ballot because they failed to provide a birthdate or provided the wrong date on their ballot envelope violates a provision of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 forbidding denying someone the right to vote based on an immaterial error or omission.

鈥淲e applaud the court鈥檚 orders blocking parts of SB 202 that prohibit the provision of food and water to voters waiting in Georgia鈥檚 longest lines, 150 feet outside of a polling place, and the rule requiring voters to unnecessarily supplement their absentee ballot with their date of birth information,鈥� said聽Poy Winichakul, 澳彩开奖鈥檚 senior staff attorney for voting rights.聽鈥淲e look forward to the case proceeding and an official ruling striking down the harmful provisions of this anti-voter law.鈥�

鈥淭oday鈥檚 decisions remove some of SB 202鈥檚 barriers to absentee and in-person voting in the 2024 election cycle,鈥� said聽Rahul Garabadu, senior voting rights staff attorney at the ACLU of Georgia.聽鈥淭he court recognized that voters should not be disenfranchised for forgetting to write their birthdate on their absentee ballot envelope, or arrested for offering food or drink to voters in line outside the 150-foot zone around polling locations. The fight against SB 202 continues on, but today鈥檚 decisions represent an important victory for every eligible voter in Georgia.鈥�

鈥淭oday鈥檚 decisions are important wins for our democracy and protecting access to the ballot box in Georgia,鈥� said聽John Cusick, assistant counsel at LDF. 鈥淲ith SB 202, Georgia enacted a series of provisions designed to make voting harder, especially for Black voters who are disproportionately more likely to endure unbearably long wait times at their polling sites across the state. The latest orders blocking some of these illegal barriers negatively impacting absentee and in-person voting are a critical step forward.鈥�

鈥淭hese orders vindicate two foundational democratic values: the First Amendment right of groups to express their support for voters waiting in long lines and the right of voters to be free from unreasonable burdens on their constitutional right to vote,鈥� said聽Sophia Lin Lakin, co-director of the ACLU's Voting Rights Project.聽

Rulings:

Background

The 澳彩开奖 (澳彩开奖), the聽,听, the聽, and the law firms聽听补苍诲听聽(DWT) filed the preliminary injunction motion on behalf of the plaintiffs. Plaintiffs are the聽,听,听聽and the聽, represented by LDF, ACLU Ga, ACLU, and Wilmer Hale, as well as the聽,听,听听补苍诲听, represented by 澳彩开奖 and DWT.

After Georgia voters turned out in record numbers for the 2020 presidential election and U.S. Senate elections in early 2021, state legislators passed SB 202, a sweeping unconstitutional and racially discriminatory voting law that threatened to massively disenfranchise voters, particularly voters of color. In response, voting rights organizations filed聽AME v. Kemp, challenging multiple provisions of SB 202.

These Georgia organizations will continue to move forward on all of their claims and seek complete relief for the various harms SB 202 creates for future elections.