Judge blocks Georgia from rejecting certain absentee ballots

Brian Kemp.
(Image credit: Jessica McGowan/Getty Images)

A federal judge on Wednesday ordered that Georgia election officials stop tossing out absentee ballots that are being rejected due to suspected signature mismatch.

Voting rights activists, including the American Civil Liberties Union, sued the state, arguing that by throwing out absentee ballots without telling voters or giving them the opportunity to fix the issue, their rights of equal protection and due process are being violated. Georgia election officials countered that this could compromise the integrity of the voting process, but Judge Leigh Martin May said the court "does not understand how assuring that all eligible voters are permitted to vote undermines integrity of the election process. To the contrary, it strengthens it."

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Catherine Garcia, The Week US

Catherine Garcia is night editor for TheWeek.com. Her writing and reporting has appeared in Entertainment Weekly and EW.com, The New York Times, The Book of Jezebel, and other publications. A Southern California native, Catherine is a graduate of the University of Redlands and the Columbia University Graduate School of Journalism.