Brian Kemp, the current secretary of state for Georgia while also running as a candidate for governor in a conflict of interest for the ages, will have to find another way to win Tuesday’s midterm elections. His favorite method of voter suppression has been struck down by a federal judge.
?BREAKING: We won! We have fully defeated Brian Kemp in our exact match lawsuit securing ALL relief we sought for voters. We’ll keep fighting to beat back voter suppression in #Midterms2018 pic.twitter.com/PY0pJJ5exd
— Lawyers' Committee ☎️866-OUR-VOTE (@LawyersComm) November 2, 2018
Rolling Stone reports that:
‘Advocates of full and unrestricted voting rights in Georgia won a significant victory in federal court on Friday that will give relief to more than 3,000 naturalized citizens who had been blocked from casting a regular ballot in Tuesday’s midterm elections. The ruling represents a defeat for both Brian Kemp — currently Georgia’s Secretary of State and the Republican gubernatorial nominee — as well as the controversial “exact match” law that he has used to suspend tens of thousands of voter applications this cycle.
‘U.S. District Court Judge Eleanor Ross, an Obama appointee in the Northern District of Georgia, issued a 36-page ruling granting the emergency injunction filed jointly October 19th by the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law and the Campaign Legal Center.’
BREAKING: A federal judge has ruled on behalf of civil rights groups who sued Georgia Secretary of State & gubernatorial candidate Brian Kemp for blocking over 50,000 voter registration applications, saying Georgia's "exact match" law places a "severe burden" on would-be voters https://t.co/R4UiHv8T0l
— Democracy Now! (@democracynow) November 2, 2018
While Kemp is likely to appeal the ruling, he won’t be able to undo it in time for the midterm elections. As a result, the registrations held under the “exact match” rule will have to be allowed and 70 percent of those registrations are for black voters. Kemp’s opponent, Stacey Abrams, would be the first black female governor in U.S. history, and more than 90 percent of black Georgia voters support her.
GEORGIA GOVERNOR RACE between @staceyabrams, @BrianKempGA & @tedmetz — Here's how the latest @wsbtv & @ajc poll breaks down by race pic.twitter.com/KZdWoaZbj7
— WSB-TV (@wsbtv) November 1, 2018
Abrams also has the support of independent voters as well as a slight edge over Kemp with female voters. A visit from Oprah Winfrey, who stumped for Kemp in Georgia on Thursday, should only serve to boost that support.
The Court has recognized — even at this early stage of this important case — that our clients have a significant chance of proving that Secretary Kemp’s “exact match” scheme interferes with our precious right to vote. pic.twitter.com/fzl8iWSNwY
— Lawyers' Committee ☎️866-OUR-VOTE (@LawyersComm) November 2, 2018
The “exact match” law hasn’t been Kemp’s only method of voter suppression, but it’s certainly been the most effective. Perhaps now, a fair election can be played out in Georgia.
Featured image screenshot via YouTube
