Georgia County Agrees To Provide Emergency Relief for Absentee Voters
UPDATE: The written consent order was filed by the court following the hearing and can be read here.
WASHINGTON, D.C. — During an emergency hearing on Monday, Nov. 7, Cobb County, Georgia agreed to take immediate action so that over 1,000 voters who didn’t receive their requested absentee ballots are still able to vote in this year’s midterm elections. Under the terms of the consent order, Cobb County will overnight absentee ballots and extend the ballot receipt deadline for the affected voters to Nov. 14. The order will ensure the voters are not disenfranchised due to the county’s error.
The order comes after several Cobb County voters filed a lawsuit on Sunday, Nov. 6, which alleged that an administrative error led to the county’s failure to send 1,036 absentee ballots to voters even though the voters had followed all procedures and deadlines to request ballots. For the plaintiffs, voting in person on Election Day would be nearly impossible for various reasons, and as a result they argued that the error violated the fundamental right to vote guaranteed by the Georgia Constitution.