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Judge reopens Georgia voter registration ahead of runoff

by Nikita Vladimirov - 05/04/17 4:19 PM ET

A federal judge has temporarily reopened voter registration Thursday, ahead of a congressional runoff election in Georgia’s 6th district.

According to a report by AJC.com, the decision was made by U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten as a part of a larger lawsuit that examined whether Georgia violated federal law by reducing the amount of time state residents had to register to vote.

Voter registration was closed on March 20, despite the runoff contest being scheduled for the end of June.

{mosads}The lawsuit was filed by The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which represents multiple civil rights and voting rights organizations.

It argued that the registration cutoff was premature, the AJC reported, and that state residents should have been allowed to register for two more months.

Focus has been heavy on the race in recent months, with the top two jungle primary vote-getters — Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel — set to face off on June 20.

Ossoff came two points short of capturing the majority vote required to win the election outright.

Handel, who came second in the preliminary contest, now enjoys full GOP support, including the direct backing of President Trump and his administration.

Batten ruled that the voter registration for the final stage of the runoff election will be open until May 21.

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