A federal judge appointed by indicted former President Donald Trump declined to block a Georgia election law that civil rights leaders say disenfranchise Black voters.
A Georgia federal court judge declined this week to temporarily block the state’s controversial election rules, which several voting rights and civil rights organizations claim will disenfranchise Black voters.
Following the Democrats sweeping victories in the 2020 election, Georgia Republicans passed bill SB202. The bill placed limits on absentee voting and the placement of absentee ballot drop boxes. It also implemented new ID requirements for mail-in voting, shortened the deadline to request absentee ballots and enforced criminal penalties for passing out refreshments to voters standing in line.
In turn, civil rights leaders and the U.S. Department of Justice said the bill made it harder for Black voters.
U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee, appointed as a federal judge by Trump in 2019, ruled that the U.S. Department of Justice and voting rights groups did not prove that Republican lawmakers discriminated against Black voters intentionally.
“This court cannot find that plaintiffs have presented enough evidence to show that the Legislature foresaw or knew that SB 202 would have a disparate impact on minority voters,” he wrote.
However, SB 202 was implemented after Donald Trump and his supporters made false claims that Georgia’s 2020 election was marred widespread fraud, illegal ballot stuffing, and rigged electronic voting machines. Trump and 18 co-defendants are currently facing RICO charges for his allegedly attempting to defraud voters in Fulton County during the 2020 election.
Barring a reversal of Boulee’s ruling, SB 202 will remain in effect during the 2024 election.
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