Court action on a voter identity in Georgia: Judge rules on Brian Kemp a few days before the election against Stacey Abrams

Georgia must change its procedures to facilitate the voting of certain persons designated under the restrictive law on "exact correspondence," a federal judge ruled Friday, blowing a blow to the Republican candidate for governor and secretary of state. State, Brian Kemp.

The law on "exact match" marks voter registrations that have inconsistencies, such as a hyphen, with other official identifications. Potential voters are allowed to settle the gap by providing proof of identity.

However, the state's Kemp procedures, whose office oversees the elections, stipulated that persons designated as potential non-citizens must first be authorized by a deputy registrar when they wished to vote. In October, a coalition of civil rights groups pursued him.

US District Judge Eleanor L. Ross said on Friday that the proceedings were likely to result in the violation of the right to vote for a large group of people and that it must be stopped immediately. She added that the restrictions imposed by Kemp had "caused the Court serious concern about the differential treatment of a group of mainly minority persons".

[How the Georgia governor’s race could reshape the voting rights debate]

The preliminary injunction it issued required the state to immediately change its procedures to allow those reported, about 3,100 persons, to prove their citizenship more easily, with a US passport or similar document, and only to a responsible person. of the poll. He also said that the coalition of civil rights groups that had pleaded against Kemp would probably succeed if the trial continued.

"With regard to Tuesday's election, we see this as a total victory in our fight against Secretary of State Brian Kemp's exact match strategy," said Kristen Clarke, President and Executive Director of the Lawyers' Committee for Lawyers. civil rights. "Our objective in bringing this lawsuit was to ensure that no eligible voter is unfairly denied the right to vote because of this discriminatory effort to eliminate voters."

Kemp was also ordered to issue a press release explaining how people reporting potential citizenship issues could still vote by proving their citizenship, and providing them with a phone number to call for any questions.

The race between Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams drew national attention.

Kemp's actions as Secretary of State were reviewed following an Associated Press report that he allegedly blocked more than 50,000 voter registrations by black voters disproportionately because of of State.

This action sparked fears of voter repression, more inflammatory accusations because of the implications in a state that, like many others in the South, carries a painful legacy of anti-voting tactics directed against the black population.

[Pence said Georgia ‘ain’t Hollywood,’ and he’s right. More box office hits are shot in Georgia.]

Kemp's involvement in the electoral process while a candidate has also attracted criticism. During a debate with Abrams, Kemp said that he would not recuse himself in other areas related to the elections, for example if the race was close enough to trigger a recount.

In a statement sent to the Washington Post, Kemp spokeswoman Candice L. Broce called Ross's decision "a minor change in the current system."