A federal judge declines to block Georgia’s shortened 4-week runoff election period

By JEFF AMY
Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge in Georgia has declined to block part of a sweeping election law that shortened the state’s runoff election period to four weeks from nine weeks. The judge said Friday that plaintiffs hadn’t proved that the shorter period disproportionately harmed Black voters. He’s denying a request for a preliminary injunction but the claims can still be litigated at trial. Georgia has an unusual requirement for a runoff election when no candidate wins a majority in a general election. The judge says there isn’t enough evidence that losing the ability to register before a runoff or the ability to vote on some weekend days are discriminatory.