A federal judge has rejected a request to extend Georgia’s voter registration deadline for the upcoming November elections after extreme weather has thrown the region into upheaval.

A federal district court judge, Eleanor Ross, ruled against claims for the plaintiffs — which include civil rights groups like the Georgia branch of the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, and New Georgia Project that registration should be extended by a week due to the disruptions caused throughout the state by Hurricane Helene.

The plaintiffs cited that voter registration had to be canceled in the wake of the storm, during a period when states see a spike in registrations just before the cutoff date. At least 37 county election offices were closed, and mail services were disrupted in 27 counties.

Judge Ross claimed that they had failed to demonstrate harm to voters because there was a lack of “clarity and detail” in their arguments.

“I don’t think we had even one voter who had been harmed or would likely be harmed by failure to register to vote,” she said. 

Judge Ross also emphasized that the potential harm to the state’s interests outweighed the plaintiffs’ concerns, citing that absentee ballots had already been mailed out and early in-person voting was set to begin soon. She also pointed out that state laws wouldn’t even allow defendants in the case, Governor Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, to extend deadlines if they wanted to.

“The harm to the state’s interests outweighs the plaintiffs’ interests,” the judge said.

The plaintiffs in the case immediately express their dismay with the ruling.

“We’re still going to fight to make sure every voter’s rights are protected,” the CPA executive director, Helen Butler, said. “We believe voters were harmed, but this doesn’t deter us.” 

The plaintiff’s legal team declined to say whether they would appeal.

Georgia was a crucial battleground state during the 2020 presidential election, which was only decided in President Biden’s favor by a scant 12,000 votes. Even a small number of new registrations could impact the outcome of the upcoming election between President Trump and Vice President Harris.

A federal judge in Florida also declined to extend the voter registration period. The decision came in response to a lawsuit filed by the Florida chapters of the League of Women Voters and the NAACP, who also argued that Hurricane Helene’s impact and evacuation preparations for Hurricane Milton may have prevented thousands of potential voters from meeting the deadline. 

The plaintiffs are now weighing options for a possible appeal.