The lawsuit will face a treacherous path after the failure of a sweeping election bill backed by Democrats in the U.S. Senate and the passage of voting bills in Republican-held state legislatures across the country.

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The case was filed Friday, the eighth anniversary of a U.S. Supreme Court decision that scaled back the Voting Rights Act, the landmark civil rights law protecting racial minorities. That ruling removed federal preapproval of changes to elections rules in Georgia and other states with a history of discrimination.

Now, the courts are being asked to decide whether Georgia legislators targeted Black voters by limiting absentee voting in several ways: voter ID requirements, shorter deadlines, fewer ballot drop boxes, provisional ballot rejections and a ban on volunteers handing out food and water to voters waiting in line.

The case will inflame both sides of the political spectrum, reverberating in campaigns both next year in Georgia — now considered a battleground state — and likely in the 2024 presidential election.

“The stakes are viewed as very high,” said Richard Pildes, an election law professor at New York University. “People became much more aware of how much small changes could potentially make a difference in elections.”

Bearing the authority of the federal government, the lawsuit against the state of Georgia is the first major voting rights case brought by the Justice Department in the Biden administration.

Georgia’s majority Republican Legislature passed the state’s voting law in response to supporters of former GOP President Donald Trump, who falsely claimed the 2020 election was fraudulent and that he was the real winner. The law’s backers say it’s justified by a need to restore Republican voters’ confidence in the integrity of elections.

Critics of the law say it’s clear that parts of Georgia’s law disproportionately affect Black voters. Black voters were more likely to cast absentee ballots last year and less likely to have photo ID than white voters, according to state election data. . . .

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said ID requirements are fair, requiring voters to fill in a driver’s license or state ID number to vote absentee, or submit a photocopy of another form of ID.

“People have photo ID and they use it on a daily basis in just about any walk of life. You can’t board a plane and you can’t go anywhere these days without photo identification,” Raffensperger said. “It doesn’t matter what demographic group you come from. It’s going to be an objective measure.”

A tough legal landscape

The lawsuit’s prospects are uncertain in the federal court system.

It has been assigned to a judge appointed by Trump, J.P. Boulee, and conservative appellate courts have frequently rejected expansions of voting rights sought by plaintiffs in recent years. For example, an initial decision to extend Georgia’s Election Day deadline for absentee ballots to be returned was overturned on appeal.

Meanwhile, the U.S. Supreme Court is expected to rule within days on an Arizona case that could further erode protections for minority voters. The court is widely expected to uphold Arizona’s limits on ballot collection and out-of-precinct voting, which are also restricted in Georgia.

The Department of Justice’s lawsuit is the eighth against Georgia’s voting law since Gov. Brian Kemp signed it March 25.

The cases could take years to resolve, but courtroom battles begin Thursday. Boulee is considering a previously filed suit that takes issue with narrower parts with the law, including provisions for shorter absentee ballot application deadlines and the criminalization of election observations when someone could see how a voter cast a ballot. . . .

The repercussions of the lawsuit will be felt outside the courtroom, regardless of whether the case succeeds or fails.

Republican voters will be motivated by a law they see as providing reasonable protections, while Democrats will attempt to energize voters of color who believe their right to vote is under attack, Kreis said. . . .