A federal judge rejects a call to reopen voter registration in Georgia after Hurricane Helene

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge said Thursday that she will not order the presidential contending state of Georgia to do so Reopen voter registration for the November election despite recent registration disruptions caused by Hurricane Helene.

U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross rejected arguments that the state should reopen registration by next Monday. The filing period ended last Monday and she said in her decision Thursday afternoon that there would be no extension.

Ross said in her oral ruling Thursday that three groups that sued had not adequately proven that their members were harmed and that there were no state laws allowing Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the Republican defendants in the case the case, would allow a lawsuit to order an extension of the voter registration deadline. Although the groups provided testimony Thursday that they knew of at least two people who failed to register, Ross said the testimony was not detailed enough to link that failure to Helene's distress.

“I don’t think we had a single voter who was or was likely to be harmed by not registering,” Ross said.

The state and the Republican Party argued that the election process could be disrupted because mail-in ballots had already been mailed and early in-person voting was scheduled to begin Tuesday. Ross seemed to agree with this argument in her decision.

“The harm to the state’s interests outweighs the plaintiffs’ interests,” Ross said.

The lawsuit, filed by the Georgia Conference of the NAACP, the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda and the New Georgia Project, argued that there would be harm and disruption Helene People are unfairly deprived of the opportunity to register.

All three groups said they had to cancel voter registration activities last week after the hurricane hit the Southeast. Historically, there has been a surge in voter registrations in Georgia near the deadline, the plaintiffs said.

“Here we are talking about a complete disenfranchisement of potential voters in many circumstances,” Amir Badat, an attorney for the groups, told Ross. He argued Kemp could extend the deadline using his emergency powers.

But Assistant Attorney General Elizabeth Young Young said there is a difference between registering an individual and registering a nonprofit organization.

“It is not a right to conduct a voter registration campaign,” she argued. “It’s the right to vote.”

Leaders of the NAACP and the Coalition for the People's Agenda who were present in the courtroom expressed their opposition to the verdict.

“We will continue to fight to ensure the rights of every voter are protected,” said Helen Butler, the coalition’s executive director. “We believe voters were harmed, but that doesn’t deter us.”

The plaintiffs' lawyers declined to say whether they would appeal.

Georgia has 8.2 million registered voters, according to online records from Raffensperger's office. But since Georgia's 2020 presidential election was decided by just 12,000 votes, a few thousand votes could make a difference in whether Republican Donald Trump or Democrat Kamala Harris wins the state's 16 electoral votes.

The lawsuit says the hurricane prevented people with driver's licenses from registering online Widespread power and internet outages in the eastern half of the state and prevented people from registering in person as at least 37 county election offices were partially closed last week. The lawsuit also notes that mail pickup and delivery has been suspended in 27 counties, including the cities of Augusta, Savannah, Statesboro, Dublin and Vidalia.

A federal judge in Florida rejected a request to reopen voter registration in that state after hearing arguments Wednesday. The plaintiffs are considering whether to appeal. The lawsuit The protests, brought by the Florida chapters of the League of Women Voters and NAACP, allege that thousands of people may have missed the registration deadline because they were recovering from Helene or preparing for the evacuation from Milton that roiled Florida this week .

A court in South Carolina extends that state's registration deadline after Helene and courts in Georgia and Florida extended registration deadlines following Hurricane Matthew in 2016. In North Carolina, which was hit harder by Hurricane Helene, the registration deadline does not end until Friday. Voters can also register and cast their ballots there at the same time during the state's early in-person voting period, which runs from Oct. 17 to Nov. 2.

At least 40 advocacy groups called on Republican Govs. Brian Kemp and Raffensperger to extend the registration deadline in affected counties before the lawsuit was filed in Georgia.