Federal Judge Blocks Georgia Officials From Tossing Ballots With ‘Signature Issues’

A federal judge in Atlanta blocked Georgia officials from throwing out absentee ballots and ballot applications due to “signature problems,” BuzzFeed News reports. U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May issued an order Wednesday siding with voting-rights groups that claimed it was “unconstitutional” for the state to throw out absentee ballots without letting voters remedy the issue first. She rejected the state’s argument that the new system, which allows voters to appeal their rejected ballots or applications, would be “too much of a burden.” The Associated Press reported over 53,000 voter registration applications in Georgia were “put on hold” by Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp’s office for signature issues, and the majority of these rejected applications were from black voters. Kemp is currently running for governor as the Republican candidate.