Judge: Georgia must extend deadline for accepting absentee ballots
ATLANTA - A federal judge has ordered Georgia to extend its deadline for accepting mail-in ballots for November's general election from the close of polls on Election Day until three days later.
The ruling came down on Monday afternoon. The ruling states the court has directed the state to extend the deadline of otherwise valid absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day that arrives within three business days after Election Day. This essentially moves the deadline from 7 p.m. on November 3 to 7 p.m. on November 6.
The New Georgia Project filed the lawsuit against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, asking for five business days.
Georgia law states absentee ballots must be received by the close of polls on Election Day. U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross on Monday ordered that deadline extended until 7 p.m. three business days later, as long as they are postmarked by Election Day.
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Monday’s ruling reads in part:
"In crafting this remedy, the Court by no means discounts the challenges absentee voters face amid the COVID-10 pandemic. However, the Court must balance these difficulties with the need to honor the State's legitimate interest in certifying the election...
"Even before the pandemic, thousands of mailed absentee ballots have been rejected in Georgia for arriving after the receipt deadline during recent election cycles ... Plaintiff's proposed remedy - extending the deadline for receiving absentee ballots - would be a valuable measure to address the risk of voter disenfranchisement. Extending the deadline would ensure that voters who receive their ballots shortly before Election Day are able to mail their ballots without fear that their vote will not count."
The secretary of state's office said it plans to immediately appeal the ruling.
The lawsuit alleged that five aspects of Georgia law on absentee ballots can disenfranchise lawful voters in violation of their constitutional rights. Ross declined to order changes beyond the absentee ballot deadline extension.
“Once you get your ballot, make your decision on who you wanna vote for and then just send it back. Please don't let it sit on the kitchen table,” Raffensperger said.
Election officials said they are expecting a record number of mail-in votes due to the pandemic. In Georgia, voters don't have to provide a reason to vote absentee -- any voter is allowed to request a ballot.
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Raffensperger said he hopes a new online portal will make it easier for voters to request their absentee ballots
“It's more efficient, more accurate, and more secure,” Raffensperger said.
The Secretary of State's newest online portal hopes to streamline the process of getting an absentee ballot.
“So seamlessly, you can put in and seamlessly, it then feeds the information to the platform for the county election directors to send out absentee ballots,” Raffensperger said.
He said that’s just one step his office is taking to make voting in November seamless.
“We are making sure that our office is flexible, adaptable to the situation on the ground and we want to make sure that we don't create undue barriers or the barriers that we do had were due to COVID-19,” he said.
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Another change ahead for the November election is officials can start processing absentee ballots earlier. Counting the votes earlier isn’t on the table.
“That would fly in the face of really ballot security. To really scan it is something that we do no different with early voting, but tabulation is something we do for all three forms of voting not until after all the polling locations are closed,” the secretary said.
The Secretary of State's Office said it’s also helping election officials recruit poll workers
“We've already gotten 5,000 poll workers that have volunteered to be poll workers,” he said. “Statewide we probably need 15,000 to 20,000 and the counties out there are looking at hiring.”
If you do plan to use the online portal to request your absentee ballot, all you need is your name, birthday, State I.D. or Driver's License number, and the county you're registered to vote in.
Absentee ballots will start getting mailed out on September 16.
The Associated Press contributed to this report