Judge, Who is Stacey Adams Sister, Blocks Voter Purge in 2 Georgia Counties Ahead Of Jan. 5 Senate Run-Off Election

It was reported today that a federal judge in Georgia has ordered two counties to reverse a decision removing more than 4,000 voters from the rolls ahead of the Jan. 5 Senate run-off elections.

The judge, Leslie Abrams Gardner, is the sister of former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, and she concluded that the counties appeared to have improperly relied on unverified change-of-address data to invalidate registrations in the two counties.

The bulk of the registrations that the counties sought to rescind, more than 4,000, were in Muscogee County, which was won by Democratic presidential candidate Joe Biden handily in November and an additional 150 were from Ben Hill County, which President Trump won by a wide margin.

The suit was brought by Majority Forward and represented by National Democratic Party attorney Marc Elias. It followed an effort to challenge the lengthy roster of voters simply because their registrations appeared to match U.S. Postal Service change-of address records.

Democrats warned that such postal data is not a reliable or conclusive indicator that a voter has given up their local residence, but voting officials in the two counties agreed to remove the voters.

The Muscogee board filed a motion earlier today, arguing that Gardner must remove herself from the case based on her relationship with her sister, Abrams, but she refused.

Gardner, an appointee of President Barack Obama, noted the recusal request in her ruling: “The Court has reviewed the motion and finds no basis for recusal. An Order detailing the Court’s reasoning is forthcoming,” she wrote.

Donald Trump Jr. shared a Politico article reporting on the situation and said, “Judge blocks voter purge in 2 Georgia counties. Don’t believe these things are rigged? THE JUDGE IS STACY ABRAMS’ SISTER!!! WTF.”

Judge blocks voter purge in 2 Georgia counties.

Don’t believe these things are rigged?

THE JUDGE IS STACY ABRAMS’ SISTER!!! WTF. https://t.co/zVnjkXyjsB

— Donald Trump Jr. (@DonaldJTrumpJr) December 29, 2020