A judge in Georgia ruled Friday to allow early voting on Nov. 26 in the runoff election for the U.S. Senate.
In a written decision, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox said that after “considering the supporting documents, the arguments of counsel and references to legal authority,” he decided that Georgia law did not prohibit polls from remaining open on Saturday after Thanksgiving. .
The decision was in favor of Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock, who faces Republican challenger Herschel Walker in a Dec. 6 runoff. Warnock’s campaign had led the Democratic lawsuit challenging state guidance barring voting that day.
State elections officials had argued at a hearing earlier Friday that early voting was not allowed on the Saturday after Thanksgiving because it violated state law that prohibits voting on Saturday if there is a state holiday on the Thursday or Friday before.
“The Court finds that the absence of Saturday’s vote will irreparably harm the Plaintiffs, their members and voters, and their preferred runoff candidate,” Cox wrote in concluding his decision.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, disagreed with the judge’s decision.
“We disagree with the court’s order and look forward to an immediate appeal,” his office said in a statement.
Earlier on Friday, Cox acknowledged that “time was of the essence.” During the 90-minute hearing, the judge asked both sides questions, but gave little indication of how he relied on the case.
The lawsuit was filed earlier this week by Warnock’s campaign, the Georgia Democratic Party and Senate Democrats after Raffensperger’s office issued guidelines barring counties from offering early voting on the Saturday after Thanksgiving.
State elections officials pointed to part of the election code that prohibits early voting on Saturday when there is a state holiday on the Thursday or Friday before. Democrats have argued that the provision does not apply to runoffs. They pointed to comments made by state officials earlier this month that counties could stop early voting on that Saturday, as well as how it was offered on the Saturday after Christmas 2020.
“This last-minute reversal is not just wrong with the law, it also implicates a fundamental right in our democracy,” Uzoma Nkwonta, a lawyer for the Democrats, said at Friday’s hearing.
Charlene McGowan, a Georgia assistant attorney general who defended state officials’ interpretation of the law, said the law was changed starting in 2020. She said it was an “unfortunate turn of events” that the calendar fell in a way that did not allow counties to offer early voting that Saturday, but that the court’s job was not to decide the best policy, as that decision was left to the legislature.
Cox’s questions included questions about what legal weight to give to comments from state officials that previously indicated counties could make early voting available on Nov. 26. He also asked whether state policy could be considered a “reasonable” interpretation of the law. The Democratic attorney argued that it was not, while Georgia’s attorney general said that it was both the reasonable and “plain” interpretation of the statute.
“No one is disenfranchised here,” McGowan said.
The ban on early voting on Saturdays that fall after a Thursday or Friday state holiday stems from legislation passed in 2016. In 2021, the Republican-led state legislature significantly shortened the runoff period, and it will end this year on December 6.
In addition to the Thanksgiving Thursday holiday, Georgia also observes a public holiday on Friday.
This headline and story has been updated with additional developments on Friday.
