Leaders from the Georgia Legislative Black Caucus are urging officials in a predominantly black rural county not to move forward with a plan to close 75 percent of their polling places.
Democratic Rep. Sandra Scott of Rex, Georgia, said the closures would disenfranchise black voters and echo a past era of institutionalized racial discrimination.
The elections board of Randolph County is considering eliminating seven of nine polling places.
County officials say the polling places don't comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act. But opponents raised questions about the timing, coming just months before a hotly contested race in which Democrat Stacey Abrams is seeking to become Georgia's first black governor.
The board is expected to vote on the issue Friday. The county is located near the Alabama border.
A former government contractor who pleaded guilty to mailing a classified U.S. report to a news organization was sentenced to more than five years Thursday as part of a deal with prosecutors, who called it the longest sentence ever imposed for a federal crime involving leaks to the media.
