Handel defended her program, asserting that it was appropriate and necessary. A federal judge in Atlanta later dismissed a lawsuit that had accused Handel's successor, Secretary of State Brian Kemp, of illegally bumping Georgia voters off the state's rolls ahead of the 2016 presidential election. In the 21-page ruling, U.S. District Judge Timothy C. Batten, Sr., said that the state had taken a "reasonable and non-discriminatory" approach in trying to reach voters who had not cast a ballot within the past 7 years to confirm their addresses.