A federal judge said Friday that Georgia should allow more than 3,000 people to vote in the midterm elections this year just four days before polling day, by facing a Republican both responsible for the electoral system and candidate as governor four days before the election.

The case stems from fears that Republican candidate Brian Kemp is purging voters from voters' lists and that a new law regarding identical voting is targeting minorities. He is running in a close race against Democrat Stacy Abrams, who, when elected, would be the first female black governor of the country's history.

Polls show Abrams behind Kemp, who also serves as Secretary of State. Critics have stated that the law on exact correspondence disproportionately affects minorities and thus prevents them from voting in the historic race.

Friday, Judge Eleanor Ross of the US District Court agreed in part. She filed an injunction, granting an urgent application allowing 3,141 people to vote Tuesday, originally banned because of the law on exact matching. These people have been reported because of citizenship issues and are mainly minorities.

In a 36-page order, Ross wrote that the court was "gravely concerned" by "the differential treatment of a minority group of people".

"The electoral system here imposes a heavy burden on these people," Ross wrote in an orderly manner.

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The injunction is part of a larger lawsuit brought by a number of human rights groups who have prosecuted on behalf of more than 50,000 people considered ineligible.

"It's just the tip of the iceberg among the hurdles that stand in the way of voters – disproportionately minority voters – we will continue to fight to eliminate them all," said Kristen Clarke, President and CEO. executive director of the committee of lawyers for civil rights under the law, one of the groups at the origin of the lawsuit. "For now, we are delighted that this order allows more than 3,000 voters to vote on Tuesday without unnecessary obstacles."

The 2018 election in Georgia is the first under the law on exact state correspondence, which requires that voter registration applications accurately match recorded information with the service. motor vehicles of the state or the social security administration. Voters whose names do not exactly match are placed on a "pending" list for further examination.

Some incompatibilities are caused by name variations, such as a hyphen, an accent mark or a medium initial, or due to typing errors. Critics of the law say that minorities are more likely to have names with these characteristics, which prevents them from voting. The NAACP said that about 70% of those affected by an exact match in the state were black.

Other people are also reported as potential non-citizens, often because the state's driver's license database has not been updated to reflect their naturalization. About 51,100 Georgians were declared ineligible to vote because of such registration problems.

The judge ruled that the state unfairly weighed in on the 3,000 people whose registration was marked by citizenship problems, because only a deputy registrar is allowed to authorize them to vote by secret ballot when voters present proof of citizenship at the polls.

She noted that voters who voted for issues other than citizenship may be wiped out by any election officer after submitting an identity photo.

State Attorney General spokesman Chris Carr did not immediately say whether the state would appeal. The spokeswoman, Katie Byrd, said that state lawyers were reviewing the order.

Also on Friday, a federal court of appeal dismissed Kemp's request to defer a decision preventing the state from launching mail ballots on signature issues.

Kemp applied for the suspension in order to appeal the decision. Civil rights groups applauded the decision.

"Once again, a court has blocked Georgia's attempt to obstruct voters," said Sophia Lakin, a lawyer at the ACLU. "This decision is a huge win as we make the final mid-turn."

Abrams and advocacy groups accused Kemp of using his office to suppress the votes and tilt the elections.

Kemp rejects the accusation. His campaign spokesman told USA Today that Kemp made it "easy to vote and hard to cheat in Georgia".

"Any accusation to the contrary is absolutely unfounded," spokesman Cody Hall said. "At the present time, we have more people on the electoral roll than ever before, due to the online voter registration advocated by Brian Kemp, and we also have a record participation rate for early voting. "

Contribute: Nicquel Terry Ellis and the Associated Press

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