Hazlehurst is the exception to a six-year trend of polling place closures since a U.S. Supreme Court ruling in 2013 removed requirements under the Voting Rights Act for some governments to obtain federal clearance before making changes to voting practices, such as closing precincts.

County election officials closed 214 precincts across Georgia between 2012 and 2018, according to an analysis last year by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

On Monday, the Randolph County Board of Elections in southwest Georgia voted to close three precincts.

The decision to reopen a precinct in Hazelhurst protects the voting rights of minority voters, said Helen Butler, executive director for the Georgia Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda, a civil rights group.

“They have spoken out loudly against the consolidation,” Butler said. “It makes no sense to risk disenfranchising voters in the 2020 elections.”