A federal judge has dropped the hammer on the Democratic Party, Democrat-aligned groups, and liberal celebrities by upholding upheld most of a voter integrity law that was passed in Georgia.
The election security law had provoked outrage from the Left but has been widely supported by conservatives.
Major League Baseball canceled the All-Star game in the state and “woke” Hollywood heavyweights called for a boycott.
Judge J.P. Boulee, a Trump appointee, declined a request from Democrat groups to issue an injunction to block the law from being enforced.
“Further, this Court finds that combining speech (in the cover information) with the conduct of sending an application form, as Plaintiffs do here, is not sufficient to transform the act of sending the application forms into protected speech,” the court wrote.
“Plaintiffs’ pro-absentee voting message is not necessarily intrinsic to the act of sending prospective voters an application form.
“Third parties who may not be aware of these proceedings are presumably already preparing to distribute ballot application forms bearing the current Disclaimer.
“A ruling requiring a different disclaimer could cause two different application forms to be in circulation.
“Prospective voters who receive both versions of the form could be confused by the conflicting statements.
“The Court is also mindful of unintended consequences of late-breaking changes to the law.”
“Since Day 1, I have committed to meeting and beating these claims in court, and this most recent ruling demonstrates that my strategy is working,” said Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state.
“This decision is a clear victory for Georgia voters and common sense election integrity reforms.”
According to Axios:
The state argued that the new ban would protect against conditions at polls that could lead to worries over potential illegal campaigning or vote buying.
Voting rights groups argued that the ban infringes on their right to free speech.
But, but, but: Although U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee sided with the state, saying that it’s too close to the election to make changes, he said the voting rights groups may ultimately prevail on part of their challenge.
Changing the rules from the primaries for the general election could cause confusion, he added.
What they’re saying: “While Georgia’s cruel ban on line relief stands for now, we look forward to presenting our broader case against SB 202 at trial, where we will prove that many provisions in the legislation violate federal law and the Constitution,” said ACLU of Georgia voting rights attorney Rahul Garabadu, per AP.
