Judge Says Georgia Must Make It Easier For Voters To Prove Citizenship

A federal judge says Georgia must make it easier for new U.S. citizens to vote. 

The ruling stems from a lawsuit filed in October that claimed the state was violating the constitutional right to vote for some new citizens. 

When someone registers to vote, Georgia uses its drivers license database to confirm citizenship. But for over 3,000 people who are new citizens, the state database was out of date and their registrations were flagged as pending. 

The state wanted those people to prove their citizenship to a deputy registrar. But the judge said that requirement puts too big of a burden of the voter. 

So for the Nov. 6 election, voters with pending registration because of a citizenship issue can show their proof of citizenship to poll managers. Once that's confirmed, those voters will be able to cast a regular ballot. 

This is the second recent ruling that will affect Georgia voters for the 2018 midterms. The same judge also ruled that Georgia election officials can't reject absentee ballots or ballot applications because of alleged mismatched signatures, without due process. 

Additional reporting from Newsy affiliate CNN.