Anonymous ID: 43d347 Aug. 31, 2020, 1 p.m. No.10485626   🗄️.is đź”—kun   >>5632 >>5705 >>5783

Judge rules Georgia ballots mailed by Election Day must be counted

 

A federal judge on Monday extended the deadline for absentee ballots to be returned in Georgia, ruling that they must be counted if postmarked by Election Day and delivered up to three days afterward.

 

U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross wrote that voters must be protected during the coronavirus pandemic, when record numbers of Georgians are expected to cast absentee ballots.

 

The decision will likely result in tens of thousands of ballots being counted that would have otherwise been rejected for arriving after 7 p.m. on on Election Day. In this year’s primary, election officials disqualified at least 8,495 absentee ballots because they were received late, according to state election data.

 

“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,” Ross wrote in her 70-page order.

 

The court order will slow vote counting and election results as officials take time to count all valid ballots.

 

The secretary of state’s office plans to immediately appeal the ruling.

 

https://www.ajc.com/politics/judge-extends-georgia-deadline-to-return-absentee-ballots/OEETBUYMWJASHCW3YMVCKTPPYI/