With the all-important Georgia Senate runoff elections set for Jan. 5, a federal judge has ordered local election officials to allow voting of over 4,000 citizens. Those voters’ eligibility was being challenged ahead of next week’s elections.

The election boards of Ben Hill and Muscogee Counties, the latter which houses Columbus, were attempting to force voters to prove their residency before being able to cast a vote. U.S. District Judge Leslie Abrams Gardner blocked the attempt, citing a violation of the National Voter Registration Act due to how close the state is to Election Day.

ABC News reports the attempted voter suppression was led by conservative group True The Vote. The group was attempting to question the residency of 364,000 voters across 159 counties as of Dec. 18. 

The election is set to place incumbent Republican Sens. David Perdue and Kelly Loeffler against Democratic challengers Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock. If the Democrats win, the Senate’s control shift their direction