A federal judge temporarily blocked Tennessee officials from implementing a law that would subject voter registration advocates to fines and criminal penalties if they violate the regulation's strict guidelines.

Tennessee Gov. Bill Lee, a Republican, signed legislation in May under which the state can fine voter registration groups that submit 100 or more incomplete voter registrations in a year.

The measure, which was set to go into effect on Oct. 1, also forces voter registration groups with paid workers to undergo civil penalties if they enroll 100 or more voters without completing state training, or if they don't mail the voter's registration forms within 10 days. According to the Tennessean, these offenses could be considered a class A misdemeanor, which can result in up to nearly a year in jail and up to $2,000 in fines in Tennessee.

"There is simply no basis in the record for concluding that the Act will provide much benefit to Tennesseans, and even less reason to think that any benefit will come close to outweighing the harms to Tennesseans (and non-Tennesseans) who merely wish to exercise their core constitutional rights of participating in the political process by encouraging voter registration," U.S. District Judge Aleta Tauger wrote when she approved the preliminary injunction, according to The Tennessean.

Tauger also referred to the state's low number of registered voters: Tennessee ranks No. 44 for the percentage of eligible voters who are registered, the Memphis Flyer reported.

The Campaign Legal Center, the American Civil Liberties Union, the ACLU of Tennessee and the Fair Elections Center challenged the law on behalf of voter registration groups, including the League of Women Voters of Tennessee and the American Muslim Advisory Council.

In a press release issued Thursday by the Campaign Legal Center, the organization asserts that Tennessee lawmakers passed the law to deal with the influx of new voters instead of dedicating more resources to help election offices.

Danielle Lang, co-director for voting and redistricting at the organization, stressed how voter registration drives are important to help register people in underserved communities.

"Voter registration drives for years have been a way for historically marginalized groups to empower their communities and gain access to the ballot box, and we are all pleased that this tradition will be allowed to continue," Lang said in the press release.

Tennessee Secretary of State Tre Hargett's office has voiced support of the voter registration law, arguing that it strengthens election security.