U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten ruled on Thursday that Georgia violated federal law by cutting off new voter registrations well before the June 20 runoff election in the 6th congressional district, and ordered state officials reopen voter registration through May 21.

The suburban Atlanta district is in the spotlight due to a runoff election that many view as a way to measure President Trump's influence. In April, Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel were the top two candidates in the special election to replace Tom Price, now the secretary of health and human services, and they will go head to head in the runoff. Batten ruled that Georgia violated federal law by setting the registration deadline as March 20, 30 days before the first round of voting, and now any district resident registered by May 21 can cast their ballot in the runoff election. This only applies to the June runoff election, Batten ruled, and the state does not have to publicize this order. The lawsuit was filed by several civil rights advocacy groups.

Handel's campaign is not happy about the fact that more people will be able to cast ballots in the runoff election, with spokeswoman Kate Constantini calling the lawsuit a "partisan attempt to change the rules for a nakedly partisan outcome." Ossoff told The Associated Press he encouraged "all eligible voters to ensure that they are registered and make their voices heard on June 20 and in all elections, regardless of their party or political persuasion." Catherine Garcia </s> Karen Handel, the Georgia Republican running in a special congressional election, insists her constituents should be angry over a federal judge's decision to let more people register to vote in a June runoff. U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten, who was nominated by former GOP President George W. Bush to the federal bench, ruled last week that Georgia had to extend its voter registration deadline until May 21 for the runoff contest between Handel and Democrat Jon Ossoff.

Start the conversation, or Read more at Switched. </s> It may or may not matter in the results of the June 20 runoff for Congress in the sixth district of Georgia. But it could not hurt the field-heavy Jon Ossoff campaign that a federal judge has struck down the state’s early deadline on voter registration for the runoff, reopening it until May 21, as the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported:

It probably tells you everything you need to know about the likely impact that Ossoff praised the judge’s decision while opponent Karen Handel attacked it. Meanwhile, Georgia’s Republican secretary of State, Brian Kemp (a candidate for governor next year) called the underlying suit “a political effort by liberal groups to attack him as a Republican officeholder.”

As voting-rights expert Ari Berman noted, registration is on the rise in Georgia:

There’s some rough justice, moreover, in Handel being negatively affected by the dismantling of a barrier to full voter participation:

This is a do-or-die election for Karen Handel, who lost statewide primary bids in 2010 and 2014. Her political career may yet live by the voter-suppression sword and die by the voter-registration sword. </s> A federal judge has temporarily reopened voter registration Thursday, ahead of a congressional runoff election in Georgia's 6th district.



According to a report by AJC.com, the decision was made by U.S. District Judge Timothy Batten as a part of a larger lawsuit that examined whether Georgia violated federal law by reducing the amount of time state residents had to register to vote.



Voter registration was closed on March 20, despite the runoff contest being scheduled for the end of June.





It argued that the registration cutoff was premature, the AJC reported, and that state residents should have been allowed to register for two more months.

Focus has been heavy on the race in recent months, with the top two jungle primary vote-getters — Democrat Jon Ossoff and Republican Karen Handel — set to face off on June 20.

Ossoff came two points short of capturing the majority vote required to win the election outright.

Handel, who came second in the preliminary contest, now enjoys full GOP support, including the direct backing of President Trump and his administration.

Batten ruled that the voter registration for the final stage of the runoff election will be open until May 21.

The lawsuit was filed by The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, which represents multiple civil rights and voting rights organizations. </s> After a hard-fought, expensive race, Democratic candidate Jon Ossoff narrowly missed the required majority vote to secure victory in the special election to represent Georgia's 6th Congressional District. Ossoff, who ran against 18 other candidates, will now advance to a runoff election in June against Karen Handel, who received the highest percentage of the vote among Republicans.

“I am truly humbled by the faith and trust the people of Georgia’s 6th District have placed in me,” Handel said in a statement after the results were announced. “Throughout my life, I have been called resilient, tough, even stubborn and it is that same fighting spirit I will take with me to Congress. But the hard work isn’t over yet."

But who is Karen Handel? Ossoff has been in the national headlines for weeks, as it became clear he had a unique chance to turn a red district blue. But the 55-year-old Handel, who was competing with 17 other Republicans, now finds herself there, too, especially after President Donald Trump, who has frequently tweeted about the race, lavished praise on her and called her to congratulate her.

Here's what you need to know about Handel.

She has a history in Georgia politics (and runoff elections)

Although relatively unknown on the national stage, Handel is a familiar name in Georgia. She served as Chairman of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners from 2003 to 2007, and as Georgia's Secretary of State from 2007 to 2010. (She was the first Republican elected to serve as Georgia's Secretary of State). In 2010, Handel resigned from her position as Secretary of State to run for Governor. She advanced to a primary runoff election in that race, but lost to Nathan Deal, who still serves as Governor. Deal congratulated Handel on Tuesday on advancing to a runoff against Ossoff, tweeting , "Team Deal is with you."

In 2013, Handel mounted a campaign to run for the U.S. Senate to replace Saxby Chambliss, who was not seeking reelection, but did not win the Republican primary.

Former Alaska Governor and 2008 Vice Presidential candidate Sarah Palin endorsed Handel in her pursuits for both Governor and Senator.

Handel has toed a fine line on Trump during the race

Although Trump took partial credit for Handel advancing to the runoff — "glad to be of help!" he tweeted - she rarely mentioned him during her campaign, according to the Associated Press.

Handel told Fortune in an interview that, if she wins in the June runoff, her allegiance is to the constituents in her district.

"I think if I have the privilege of being the next congressman for the 6th District, my responsibilities are to represent the 6th District," she said. "Are there areas where that aligns with the president and his agenda? Absolutely. But I am also extremely independent minded and have an issue of standing up for things I believe in."

Handel told Fortune that Trump was very gracious in their phone call, and their conversation gave her an opportunity to express her appreciation for his help getting out the vote.

She was involved in a controversy of Planned Parenthood funding

In 2011, Handel was named Senior Vice President of Public Policy for the Susan G. Komen for the Cure, one of the leading organizations fighting breast cancer. In January of 2012, the foundation announced it was suspending its funding of Planned Parenthood. (One month later, the foundation changed course, and decided to retain funding following a public backlash). The Huffington Post reported that year that Handel was the primary force in the decision to pull funding, citing internal e-mails and an inside source.

In February 2012, Handel resigned from her position at Susan G. Komen, and denied she had a role in the decision not to renew funding. "The only place for politics in all of this came from Planned Parenthood — when they launched this vicious, vicious attack on a great organization and perpetrated what was nothing short of a shakedown to coerce a private entity to give them grants," she told CNN affiliate WXIA in 2012.

Handel published a book about her experience, Planned Bullyhood: The Truth Behind the Headlines about the Planned Parenthood Funding Battle with Susan G. Komen for the Cure , in November 2014.

Although Handel states on her Congressional campaign website that she opposes abortion, she does not mention anything about Planned Parenthood funding.

Like Trump, Handel had a business career before entering politics

Handel has been involved in politics for over two decades, serving in roles ranging from Deputy Chief of Staff to former Georgia Governor Sunny Perdue, to Deputy Chief of Staff for then-Vice President Dan Qayle's wife Marilyn during the first Bush Administration. But she also has a career in business as a public relations executive. She served as Director of Public Relations for the Southeast for the major accounting firm KPMG from 1994 to 1996; as the head of Global Communications and Public Affairs for the eyewear company CIBA Vision from 1997 to 2001; and as President/CEO of the Greater North Fulton Chamber of Commerce from 2001 to 2003. </s> Georgia’s Sixth Congressional District final election results are in, and the Democrats have a bit of good news – Jon Ossoff received 92,390 votes – which is 48.1% of the votes, according to The Associated Press.

While Karen Handel, a Republican, came in a distant second with 37,993 votes which represent 19.8% of the votes in the special election for a U.S. House seat in a Republican-dominated section of Georgia.

Please note 18 candidates were fighting in what was called the “bloody jungle primary” to fill the seat that was vacated when President Donald Trump selected Tom Price to be his Health and Human Services Secretary.

Because the liberal candidate was not able to cross the 50 percent threshold, he will now compete in a runoff on June 20th against Handel.

The race was supposed to make headlines just in Georgia, but it captivated the entire country and attracted a list of celebrities including Debra Messing, Samuel L. Jackson, and Alyssa Milano who were out campaigning in force for Ossoff.

Ossoff became a political star and raised $8.3 million for his campaign, more than quadruple that of his leading opponent.

He issued a statement after the results were announced: “No matter what the outcome is tonight, whether we take it all or we fight on, we have defied the odds, we have shattered expectations.”

He added: “We are changing the world and your voices are going to ring out across this state and across this country. We will be ready to fight on and win in June if it is necessary.”

Here are Georgia’s special 6th district election’s final voting results after all the votes were tallied:

It is not known why, but Trump took to Twitter, of course, to say his political party had won hours before the race was called. </s> The race for the seat vacated by United States Secretary of Health and Human Services Tom Price in Georgia’s 6th Congressional District was close, but will ultimately be decided in a runoff in June.



CNN is projecting that with at least 77 percent of the votes in, a runoff will be required as no candidate on the ballot secured the requisite 50 percent of votes. Democrat Jon Ossoff will face Republican Karen Handel in June. Unofficial return numbers as reported by the Washington Post show Ossoff with 48.6 percent; Handel got less than 20 percent of the vote, but the threat of a Democrat in a seat that has long been held by the Republicans will surely be enough to mobilize the party into action.

Polls closed at 7 p.m., but the results have been delayed by what the Fulton County Board of Elections called a “rare technical error” with a memory card. Ossoff got a strong start with a 71 percent lead that shrank as the evening wore on. President Donald Trump took time out of his packed schedule of flying back and forth to Mar-a-Lago and hitting the links to tweet a flurry of shit about the election, urging Republicans in Georgia to get out and vote.

Because a true narcissist never rests, he even took the time to share his thoughts about the likely results of the election, taking credit for the results himself and spinning what was actually a loss for the Republicans into a win.

The “help” he refers to is a robocall he recorded urging Republicans to vote in the special election that lasted for over one minute.

The 6th district in Georgia has been held by the likes of Newt Gingrich and has been a Republican stronghold for over 40 years. Ossoff is a former congressional staffer and political newcomer who managed to raise a staggering $8 million ahead of this election. Handel is a woman who, as Secretary of State for Georgia, tried to restrict voter’s rights by requiring voters to prove their citizenship in order to vote, resulting in a lawsuit in 2008. Ossoff nearly flipped a solid-red district full of wealthy conservatives with whom President Trump is proving to be very unpopular.

Speaking to the crowd at his party, Ossoff said “We will be ready to fight on and win in June if it’s necessary. Bring it on.” </s> Republican Karen Handel was projected to win Tuesday’s closely watched U.S. House special election in Georgia, defeating Democrat Jon Ossoff in the most expensive congressional race ever.

The Associated Press called the election for Handel with 81 percent of the precincts reporting and the Republican holding a 11,000-vote lead over Ossoff.

Handel, 55, becomes the latest in a line of Republicans who have represented the district since 1979, beginning with Newt Gingrich, who would become House speaker. Most recently, Tom Price resigned the post in February to join Trump’s administration as health and human services secretary. The president himself struggled here, though, edging Democrat Hillary Clinton but falling short of a majority among an affluent, well-educated electorate that typically has given Republican nominees better than 60 percent of the vote.

In April, Handel trailed Ossoff in the first round of voting but led all Republican candidates to qualify for a runoff. Ossoff tallied 48 percent, just shy of an outright victory.

Handel celebrated the early numbers with her supporters at an area hotel, saying she fared well in early and absentee voting but that it was too early to make a prediction.

“It’s still very, very early,” she said. “Everything we’re seeing is incredibly encouraging. … Let’s everybody hang tight, watch returns for a little bit longer, we’ll see what the trends do.”

The race has smashed fundraising records for a House contest, as Democrats try to capitalize on President Trump’s ratings to win the long-held Republican seat.

The campaigns for Handel and Ossoff, along with outside groups, spent a record $50 million.

The 30-year-old Ossoff, who lives just outside the district, failed to win the seat in April. But he was a top-two finisher in an 18-candidate field along with Handel, which landed them in Tuesday’s runoff.

The latest RealClearPolitics.com averaging of polls had Handel leading by less than 1 percentage point, which meant the race was essentially tied.

As polls closed, Georgia election officiasl said voting went smoothly throughout the day, amid some rain across the state.

The sixth congressional district seat, in suburban Atlanta, has been occupied by Republicans since 1979.

GOP Rep. Tom Price gave up the seat in February to become Health and Human Services Secretary.

The 2017 races were supposed to be a prelude to the Democrats’ grand plan to win control of the House next year — based largely on the expectation that voters will be dissatisfied with Trump and fellow Republicans who control Congress.

However, Democrats have failed in their first two attempts this year to take a Republican-held House seat.

In Kansas, Republicans held onto the seat of Mike Pompeo, now the CIA director, and they kept the Montana seat of Ryan Zinke, who became Trump’s Secretary of Interior.

So Democrats essentially pinned their last hopes on Ossoff, a first-time candidate, documentary filmmaker and former congressional aide.

The other special election race Tuesday was in South Carolina. Millionaire developer Ralph Norman, the Republican, defeated former Goldman Sachs tax adviser Archie Parnell, the Democrat, according to the Associated Press.

The race was for the seat left open by Republican Mick Mulvaney, now the White House budget director.

Ossoff has tried to thread the needle in the conservative-leaning Georgia district, appealing to Republican voters by vowing to cut taxes for small busineeses, while championing equal rights for women and minorities, which earned him the support of civil right icon and Georgia Democratic Rep. John Lewis.

However, Trump has repeatedly warned voters that Ossoff, if elected, would increase taxes and be soft on national security.

“Ossoff, who wants to raise your taxes to the highest level and is weak on crime and security, doesn’t even live in district,” Trump tweeted hours before polling stations opened.

While Republicans have held the seat since former House Speaker Newt Gingrich took it from Democrats nearly four decades ago, the district does not appear as conservative as in years past.

Trump won the district over Democrat Hillary Clinton last year by just 1.5 percent, compared to 2008 when Republican presidential nominee Arizona Sen. John McCain won by 18.9 percent.

While the race has attracted national attention and record money, Georgia voters have also taken a big interest in the outcome.

More than 40,000 people vote early, including 36,000 who didn’t vote in the April contest.

The parties are also attacking each other for the amount of out-of-state money they collected.

An Atlanta Journal-Constitution analysis showed just 3.5 percent of Ossoff’s donations between the end of March and May came from Georgia.

Handel, a former Georgia secretary of state, continued Tuesday to tout her experience as a state and local elected official and argue that outside forces are trying to buy the seat.

Voters “are not interested in Hollywood and California coming in and buying this seat,” she said on Fox News’ “Fox & Friends.”

Still, Handel also benefited from outside spending, though most didn’t go directly to her campaign.

Groups like the Congressional Leadership Fund, a political action committee backed by House Speaker Paul Ryan, have spent millions on her behalf.

On Monday night, Ossoff told voters: “Politics does not have to be about fear and hate and deception and division,” avoiding mentioning Trump directly, as is his custom, but blistering “those cynics in Washington, D.C.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report. </s> Candidate Party Votes Pct. Handel Karen Handel Republican Rep. 134,595 51.9 % 259,488 votes, 100% reporting (208 of 208 precincts) U.S. House Map » Karen Handel, a Republican, defeated Jon Ossoff, a Democrat, in the most expensive U.S. House race in history. The election was largely seen as a referendum on the first months of Donald J. Trump’s presidency. Republicans maintain control of the seat, which was vacated by Tom Price, the new secretary of health and human services. Vote Margin By Precinct Vote margin Ossoff leads 30 20 10 Handel leads 10 20 30 Shift from April 18 Election Where and How Votes Were Cast County Rpt. Fulton 100 % Cobb 100 % DeKalb 100 % Early votes Election Day votes

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Live Estimates of the Final Vote Our estimates are based on the results reported so far, the results of the previous election and demographic data. Unlike reported results, they attempt to account for precincts that have not yet reported their votes. The shaded area in the gauge below shows the range of our forecasts. Right now, our most likely estimates span to . The darker region shows the middle 50 percent of our forecasts. The more we know, the narrower our range will be.

Below, our best guess for how many votes both candidates will end up with when all votes are counted...

Candidate Estimated votes

...and where those votes will come from:

Reported Vote Margin votes have been counted. leads in that count by . Estimated Votes Remaining We think votes remain to be counted. This is a very rough guess. We think leads in that vote by .

Projected Vote Margin

Estimated vote margin Best guess 5% 50% of outcomes 95%

Once all the votes have been counted, our estimated margin and the reported margin will match. As a rule, when our estimated margin is steady, our forecast is more trustworthy.

Estimated Percentage of Votes Counted
No candidate reaches a majority vote, so the first- and second-place finishers, Jon Ossoff (48.1%) and Karen Handel (19.8%), will face off in a runoff election on June 20, 2017.