The state, meanwhile, will ask her not to order any changes, especially with an election looming.

A hearing scheduled for Thursday and Friday will be the latest skirmish in a long-running fight. A lawsuit filed in 2017 against state and county election officials that originally challenged the state's old, outdated voting machines has morphed to target the new machines and election system that Georgia bought last year for more than $100 million.

U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg, who scolded state officials for failing to address serious problems with the old system, said the purchase of a new system was a step in the right direction. Now she must decide whether the new system places an unconstitutional burden on the right to vote.