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Georgia’s highest court docket on Monday dominated that hundreds of Cobb County voters who acquired their ballots late is not going to have their votes instantly counted if their ballots are acquired by officers after Election Day, a choice that sided with nationwide Republicans.
The Georgia Supreme Court docket mentioned that these ballots, which Cobb County officers admitted they did not ship out on time, have to be put aside pending additional litigation if they don’t seem to be returned by Tuesday at 7 p.m., the deadline beneath current state regulation and the time polls shut within the state.
A Cobb County choose beforehand prolonged the deadline till 5 p.m. on Friday — the identical receipt deadline for uniformed and abroad voters — so long as the ballots have been postmarked by the shut of polls on Election Day.
The Republican Nationwide Committee (RNC) and Georgia Republican Social gathering appealed that call on to the state’s highest court docket, arguing that Georgia regulation plainly requires that “‘all absentee ballots’ have to be ‘returned’ on ‘the day’ of the ‘election.’”
“The Superior Court docket’s deviation from the Legislature’s instruction is baseless,” legal professionals for the state and nationwide Republicans wrote. “The Plaintiffs declare a burden on their proper to vote, however the Georgia Structure doesn’t assure a proper to vote by mail. Voters nonetheless have many choices to vote, together with by voting in particular person or delivering their absentee ballots in particular person.”
Georgia’s American Civil Liberties Union, which introduced the preliminary lawsuit on the behalf of three affected voters, urged different affected voters to as an alternative forged their ballots in particular person or ship their absentee ballots by hand to county election officers by the up to date deadline.
“If neither is an choice, we urge voters to instantly ship their poll again to the county through in a single day supply, if doable. Solely as a final resort, ought to voters merely mail their ballots,” the group mentioned in a press launch. “Sadly, there are voters who won’t be able to entry the remaining choices and won’t have their voices heard on this election because of this ruling.”
The Georgia Supreme Court docket ordered the Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration to inform the affected voters of their Election Day deadline by electronic mail, textual content message and a public announcement on the board’s web site.
The panel additionally famous that the ruling doesn’t pertain to voters casting ballots beneath the federal regulation for uniformed and abroad absentee voters.
Three of the panel’s 9 justices dissented however didn’t clarify why. A fourth justice was disqualified from the case. The opposite 5 dominated within the RNC’s favor.
Georgia is a crucial battleground state that might assist sway the result of the presidential election. President Biden beat former President Trump by 14 share factors in Cobb County in 2020 and finally gained the state by a slender margin.
— Up to date at 5:34 p.m.
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