Judge rules against Abrams group in voting rights lawsuit

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal judge on Friday found that Georgia election practices challenged by a group associated with Democrat Stacey Abrams do not violate the constitutional rights of voters, ruling in favor of the state on all remaining issues in a lawsuit filed nearly four years ago.

“Although Georgia's election system is not perfect, the challenged practices violate neither the constitution nor the VRA,” U.S. District Judge Steve Jones in Atlanta wrote, referring to the Voting Rights Act of 1965. He detailed his reasoning in a 288-page order.

The lawsuit was filed in November 2018, just weeks after Abrams narrowly lost the governor’s race to Republican Brian Kemp. Throughout that contest, Abrams had accused Kemp, then secretary of state, of using his position as the state’s top elections official to promote voter suppression. Kemp vehemently denied the allegations.

Kemp on Friday applauded the ruling, calling it a loss for Abrams.

“Judge Jones’ ruling exposes this legal effort for what it really is: a tool wielded by a politician hoping to wrongfully weaponize the legal system to further her own political goals,” Kemp said in a statement emailed by his campaign.

Representatives for Fair Fight and Abrams did not immediately comment on the ruling.

The trial began in mid-April, unfolding while Georgia’s primary elections were underway. Those contests set the stage for a rematch between Kemp and Abrams, who captured their parties’ gubernatorial nominations for November’s general election.

Nearly five dozen witnesses were called over the course of 21 trial days that stretched across more than two months. It was a bench trial, meaning there was no jury and the verdict was up to Jones alone.

Abrams' Fair Fight Action organization filed the lawsuit along with Care in...