A federal judge on Thursday ordered Georgia to temporarily reopen voter registration ahead of a hotly contested congressional runoff in the 6th District.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten made the ruling as part of a broader lawsuit by a Washington-based advocacy group, which last month accused Georgia of violating federal law by reducing the amount of time residents have to register to vote.

Voter registration shut down March 20 ahead of the deciding runoff June 20 for the 6th District election, which is being held in the northern suburbs of metro Atlanta.

Batten, however, ordered registration immediately reopened until May 21.

A spokeswoman for Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp said the office will seek to comply with the order.

"Brian Kemp swore an oath to uphold and defend Georgia law," spokeswoman Candice Broce said. "That is what he did, and that is what he will continue to do.”



The suit, filed by The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law on behalf of five civil rights and voting rights organizations, claims Georgia law cuts off voter registration for federal runoff elections two months earlier than it should be allowed to.

Kemp’s office, which oversees elections in Georgia, has called the suit a political effort by liberal groups to attack him as a Republican officeholder.

The office has also noted that the law has been in place since Democrat Cathy Cox was secretary of state more than a decade ago.

Batten, who was appointed to the federal court bench by President George W. Bush, held the hearing Thursday in Atlanta after the groups’ asked for an emergency injunction.

The 6th District raced has become a nationally watched barometer on the early effect of Donald Trump’s presidency, with Democrats making a run at what has been considered solidly GOP area.

Democrat Jon Ossoff among a field of 18 candidates won 48 percent of the vote April 18, falling short of the necessary 50 percent to claim victory outright.

He now faces Republican Karen Handel, a former secretary of state who has made an effort to consolidate GOP support and got a fundraising visit last week from Trump.

It is unclear whether reopening registration will have a tangible effect on the runoff’s outcome.

An analysis by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution last month found that voter registration in the 6th District increased only 2.5 percent in the months since the presidential election.

That tied for the fourth-lowest increase among Georgia’s 14 congressional districts in new registrations since then.</s>Voter registration for the 6th Congressional District runoff election on June 20 has been reopened at the order of a federal court. Registration will remain open through May 21.

The Georgia Secretary of State had previously declared that only people who had already voted in the April 18 special election could vote in the runoff. A group of civil rights organizations filed a federal lawsuit saying that violates the National Voter Registration Act.

In a May 4 order, Judge Timothy Batten of the U.S. District Court for North Georgia agreed and ordered the reopening of voter registration.

“Would-be voters in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District were denied a full and fair opportunity to register and vote under the prior law,” said a written statement from Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which represented the civil rights groups along with a team of private attorneys. “Today’s decision extending the voter registration deadline helps ensure that eligible voters will be able to participate in the upcoming runoff election, and in all future runoff elections for federal office. States like Georgia must stop taking actions that suppresses the rights of voters.”

In the June 20 runoff election, Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff are battling for the seat in Congress. The 6th Congressional District includes parts of Brookhaven, Dunwoody and Sandy Springs.

For voter registration information, see the Secretary of State’s website at mvp.sos.ga.gov/MVP/mvp.do. Citizens with any questions about the reopened registration period can call Lawyers’ Committee-administrated “Election Protection” hotline at 866-678-8683.

The court’s order was a preliminary emergency injunction, not a final legal decision. In the injunction order, Batten wrote that he issued it due to the civil rights groups’ likelihood of winning the case and the seriousness of people possibly losing their legal right to vote.</s>Ya think there will be more motivation for Democrats to vote after today? Yep. Buzzfeed:

A federal court on Thursday ordered Georgia officials to extend the voter registration deadline through at least May 21 to be eligible to vote in the special election runoff in Georgia's sixth congressional district between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff.

The Georgia NAACP and others argued in a lawsuit that the rules violate the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which bars states from having registration deadlines greater than 30 days before an election.

On Thursday, US District Judge Timothy Batten held a hearing in the case — and sided with the challengers and against the state.</s>A federal judge has temporarily reopened voter registration Thursday, ahead of a congressional runoff election in Georgia's 6th district.



According to a report by AJC.com, the decision was made by U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten as a part of a larger lawsuit that examined whether Georgia violated federal law by reducing the amount of time state residents had to register to vote.



Voter registration was closed on March 20, despite the runoff contest being scheduled for the end of June.





It argued that the registration cutoff was premature, the AJC reported, and that state residents should have been allowed to register for two more months.

Focus has been heavy on the race in recent months, with the top two jungle primary vote-getters — Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel — set to face off on June 20.

Ossoff came two points short of capturing the majority vote required to win the election outright.

Handel, who came second in the preliminary contest, now enjoys full GOP support, including the direct backing of President Trump and his administration.

Batten ruled that the voter registration for the final stage of the runoff election will be open until May 21.

The lawsuit was filed by The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which represents multiple civil rights and voting rights organizations.</s>It may or may not matter in the results of the June 20 runoff for Congress in the sixth district of Georgia. But it could not hurt the field-heavy Jon Ossoff campaign that a federal judge has struck down the state’s early deadline on voter registration for the runoff, reopening it until May 21, as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported:

It probably tells you everything you need to know about the likely impact that Ossoff praised the judge’s decision while opponent Karen Handel attacked it. Meanwhile, Georgia’s Republican secretary of State, Brian Kemp (a candidate for governor next year) called the underlying suit “a political effort by liberal groups to attack him as a Republican officeholder.”

As voting-rights expert Ari Berman noted, registration is on the rise in Georgia:

There’s some rough justice, moreover, in Handel being negatively affected by the dismantling of a barrier to full voter participation:

This is a do-or-die election for Karen Handel, who lost statewide primary bids in 2010 and 2014. Her political career may yet live by the voter-suppression sword and die by the voter-registration sword.</s>Share On more Share On more

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A federal court on Thursday ordered Georgia officials to extend the voter registration deadline through at least May 21 to be eligible to vote in the special election runoff in Georgia's sixth congressional district between Republican Karen Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff.

Under Georgia law, only those people eligible to vote in the April 18 special election would be eligible to vote in the June 20 runoff.

The Georgia NAACP and others argued in a lawsuit that the rules violate the National Voter Registration Act of 1993, which bars states from having registration deadlines greater than 30 days before an election.



Georgia opposed the request, arguing that "[v]oter qualifications in elections are left to the states" and that the runoff was a "continuation" of the initial election.

On Thursday, US District Judge Timothy Batten held a hearing in the case — and sided with the challengers and against the state.

The competitive seat opened when Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price left the House to join President Trump's cabinet.</s>ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge has ordered Georgia officials to reopen voter registration in a suburban Atlanta congressional district ahead of a runoff in a heated special election.

Georgia set the registration deadline for March 20, which was 30 days before special election in April. Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel, the top two vote-getters, advanced to a June 20 runoff in the typically conservative but now competitive district.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten ruled Thursday in favor of advocacy groups who argued that Georgia violated federal law by preventing more new voter registrations before the runoff. He ordered the state to extend the deadline to May 21.

State election officials argued a runoff is a continuation of an initial election under Georgia law and warned last-minute changes would be difficult.</s>U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten ruled on Thursday that Georgia violated federal law by cutting off new voter registrations well before the June 20 runoff election in the 6th congressional district, and ordered state officials reopen voter registration through May 21.

The suburban Atlanta district is in the spotlight due to a runoff election that many view as a way to measure President Trump's influence. In April, Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel were the top two candidates in the special election to replace Tom Price, now the secretary of health and human services, and they will go head to head in the runoff. Batten ruled that Georgia violated federal law by setting the registration deadline as March 20, 30 days before the first round of voting, and now any district resident registered by May 21 can cast their ballot in the runoff election. This only applies to the June runoff election, Batten ruled, and the state does not have to publicize this order. The lawsuit was filed by several civil rights advocacy groups.

Handel's campaign is not happy about the fact that more people will be able to cast ballots in the runoff election, with spokeswoman Kate Constantini calling the lawsuit a "partisan attempt to change the rules for a nakedly partisan outcome." Ossoff told The Associated Press he encouraged "all eligible voters to ensure that they are registered and make their voices heard on June 20 and in all elections, regardless of their party or political persuasion." Catherine Garcia</s>DJ Snake and Lil Jon are defendants in a new copyright lawsuit filed yesterday in New York federal court, as the Hollywood Reporter points out. The complaint alleges that the duo’s hit track “Turn Down for What” violates the copyright of one Freddie GZ, a rapper who released his own song titled “Turn Down for What” in March of 2013. (DJ Snake and Lil Jon’s song was released in December 2013.) The lawsuit, which is being brought forth by lawyer Richard Busch (who represented the Gaye family in the long-running “Blurred Lines” copyright trial), is seeking monetary damages and a permanent injunction. “The striking similarity between the Original Work and the Infringing Works ... when paired together with the timeline of events cannot be a coincidence,” the suit reads. Check out the two songs back to back below.</s>ATLANTA (AP) - A federal judge on Thursday ordered Georgia officials to reopen voter registration in a suburban Atlanta congressional district ahead of a heated special election that's seen by many as a test of President Donald Trump's influence.

U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten ruled in favor of civil rights advocacy groups who argued that Georgia violated federal law by preventing more new voter registrations before the June 20 runoff.

Georgia had set the registration deadline on March 20, 30 days before the first round of voting in April. Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel, the top two vote-getters, advanced to a runoff in the conservative 6th District. Democrats hope Ossoff, who came within 2 percentage points of outright victory in the first round, can upset Handel in the tight race. Trump raised funds for Handel in a recent Atlanta visit.

Batten, who was appointed by former President George W. Bush in 2005, ordered the state to extend the deadline to May 21 and to allow any district resident registered by that day to cast a ballot in the runoff. He said he wouldn't order the state to publicize the change but that he expects the Secretary of State, Georgia's top elections official, to update his website with the new information.

Candice Broce, a spokeswoman for Secretary of State Brian Kemp, said the state will comply with the judge's order.

Batten said in court that his Thursday order only applies to the June runoff and not to future elections.

Jill Boyd Myers, one of the people on whose behalf the lawsuit was filed, moved from Atlanta to suburban Sandy Springs in the 6th District two days after the March 20 registration cutoff. Despite having been registered to vote in Georgia since she moved here from Ohio in 2011, she was upset to learn she wouldn't be eligible to vote in the runoff.

"This just felt like a real prohibition of our rights as citizens," she said after the hearing, adding that she was thrilled with the judge's ruling.

Attorneys for the state argued that federal law allows states to determine voters' qualifications, including registration deadlines. The state constitution defines a runoff election as a "continuation of the general election," and allows only those eligible to vote in the initial election to cast a ballot in the runoff, attorneys wrote in court documents laying out the state's argument.

"It's one contest with one electorate," state attorney Josiah Heidt told the judge.

Georgia's attorneys also provided declarations from state and local election officials, who were concerned that a last-minute change would leave little time before the runoff to prepare.

Batten acknowledged the arguments that it would be difficult for the state to be ready in time, but said he saw nothing to show it would be impossible.

Chris Harvey, director of the state's Division of Elections, said in a court filing that a new registration deadline would force rapid testing by the equipment vendor and the Kennesaw State University's Center for Election Systems before early voting begins on May 30.

That could raise the risk of a "serious mistake" that damages the election's integrity, he wrote.

The Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, a Washington-based advocacy group that sued on behalf of civil rights organizations, argued that the state has been aware of their concerns since the end of March.

"We're talking about taking away the right to cast a ballot in a very important election regardless of who you are," Julie Houk, with the Lawyers' Committee, said in court.

Kate Constantini, a spokeswoman for Handel's campaign, sees the lawsuit as a partisan maneuver.

"When the Democrats can't win following the rules - rules they themselves authored and enforced - they file partisan lawsuits to change them," Constantini said in an email. "This lawsuit should be seen for exactly what it is: A partisan attempt to change the rules for a nakedly partisan outcome."

Ossoff, in an emailed statement, urged all voters to exercise their rights.

"Voting rights are constitutional rights," he said. "I encourage all eligible voters to ensure that they are registered and make their voices heard on June 20th and in all elections, regardless of their party or political persuasion."

Emory University political science professor Alan Abramowitz predicted the decision will benefit Ossoff more than Handel. He said Republicans will be older, longtime residents and more likely to be registered already. Democrats can cultivate a growing number of Latino or Asian-American residents who have moved into the district in recent years but aren't yet registered, he said.

"Everything points to this being a very close race, and it's likely to be decided by one or two points," Abramowitz said. "Even a few hundred new voters could conceivably tip the balance."
The campaign of Jon Ossoff wins a lawsuit extending voter registration.