COBB COUNTY, Ga. — A complaint alleging some Cobb County residents were at risk of not being able to cast their absentee ballots in time for the Senate runoff has led to an extension for the county to receive them, court documents show.
The Southern Poverty Law Center, the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia and Dechert LLP took legal action against the Cobb Board of Elections, according to a news release. They alleged officials failed to send the absentee ballots in a timely matter during the early voting period.
11Alive spoke to some voters Thursday who said they still hadn't received their ballot, making them worried that they would not have enough time to mail it in or drop it off by the runoff on Tuesday, Dec. 6.
However, Cobb election director Janine Eveler explained on Thursday the process it takes to approve the ballots to get them issued. She said the soonest her office could approve the applications and prepare them to be mailed was on Nov. 21; they issued 15,000 on that date that then needed to be printed and put in the mail. Eveler said Thursday her office had been in touch with the postal service and hadn't learned of any delays.
Court documents said the defendants asserted at the hearing that the ballots were not issued in an untimely manner.
However, a Cobb County superior court judge agreed with the plaintiffs and issued a consent order for an extension. County election officials said voters who had an absentee ballot request accepted on or before Nov. 26 will still have their ballot accepted if the office receives it by Dec. 9. They must be postmarked by 7 p.m. on Election Day, Dec. 6. This is also the same deadline for Uniformed and Overseas Voters.
The court documents state those who haven't received their absentee ballot should be allowed to use the federal write-in absentee ballot. These must also be postmarked by Election Day. Voters can also vote in-person at their polling location on Election Day.
On its website, Cobb County election officials said they also extended hours and opportunities for people to return ballots before election day. They can be taken to the Cobb County Elections & Registration Main Office at the following times.
- Saturday, December 3rd, from 10 a.m.-5 p.m.
- Monday, December 5th, from 8a.m.- 6 p.m.
- Tuesday, December 6th, from 7a.m.-7 p.m.
The main office is located at 995 Roswell St., NE in Marietta.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger issued a statement about the order, saying he would "urge the judge to reconsider."
"These last-minute changes are unfair, lead to confusion (which just leads to more judges trying to make more last-minute changes,) and gives fodder to those who are not inclined to accept the election results," the statement said. "Judges should uphold and enforce the law even when they may not personally agree with it."
In Thursday's interview, Eveler said because there are only four weeks between the November general election and the runoff, it's challenging to fulfill absentee ballot requests.
Poy Winichakul, senior staff attorney for voting rights with the Southern Poverty Law Center said the "delay" in sending the ballots represents an effect of Georgia's voting law that shortens the absentee voting time period.
“We have pushed back against those barriers with today’s agreement but barriers to voting will affect our communities time and time again if we do not stand up to them," Winichakul said. "We encourage all Georgia communities to stand up for their voting rights by exercising them and voting in person or hand delivering their absentee ballots to ensure their voices are heard.”
Last month, a judge also issued a consent order to allow a similar extension after more than 1,000 Cobb voters didn't receive their absentee ballots because they weren't mailed due to a human error.