On August 18, U.S. District Court Judge J. P. Boulee, a Trump appointee, enjoined two Georgia laws that affect the voting process. Sixth District of the African Methodist Episcopal Church v Kemp, n.d., 1:21cv-1284.
Here is the order that enjoins the law that absentee postal ballots must have the voter’s correct date of birth written on the outer envelope. The law also requires the voter’s Georgia drivers license or state ID number on the outer envelope, or the last four digits of the voter’s Social Security number. The ruling says given that requirement, there is no additional need that the accurate birthdate be put on the outer envelope. The basis for the ruling is the “materiality” provision of the 1964 civil rights act. It protects the right to vote, even if the voter makes an error, “if the error or omission is not material in determining whether such individual is qualified under state law to vote in such election.”
The other enjoined law prohibits anyone from giving food or drink to a voter standing in line waiting to vote at the polls. The judge enjoined that law as applied to voters who are standing more than 150 feet from the entrance to the polling place, but declined to enjoin the law as applied to voters who are within 150 feet of the polling place. Here is the order on that issue.
The same judge had refused to enjoin these two laws in 2022 because the upcoming 2022 election was too close in time to the court proceeding.
The judge declined to enjoin the law that requires ballot drop boxes to be inside a building instead of outside. Thanks to Democracy Docket for this news.
