A federal judge has dismissed a lawsuit that claimed Georgia’s deadline to request an absentee ballot 11 days before Election Day broke civil rights law.
The lawsuit alleged that the deadline imposed by Georgia’s 2021 election law violated a provision of the Voting Rights Act allowing voters to cast absentee ballots if they apply at least seven days ahead of time.
U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee ruled Friday that the plaintiffs, a labor union of TV and theater workers, could not sue because voting is not part of the group’s purpose.
While the ruling tossed the lawsuit, Boulee did not address whether Georgia’s election law defied federal law.
“In short, plaintiff is a labor union and not a voting organization,” Boulee wrote in a 19-page decision. “It represents the interests of its members as laborers in a particular industry and not as voters in the state of Georgia.”
A conservative organization, Restoring Integrity and Trust in Elections PAC, praised the decision against the labor union, the International Alliance of Theater Stage Employees Local 927.
“This case was nothing more than yet another attempt to undermine common sense election safeguards that protect against last-minute chaos and help enable secure and orderly absentee voting,” said Derek Lyons, president and CEO of RITE PAC, which supported the Georgia Republican Party’s participation in the lawsuit.
The plaintiffs were reviewing the ruling and declined further comment Monday, according to an attorney.
Several other lawsuits opposing Georgia’s 2021 voting law, Senate Bill 202, are still pending.
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