The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that Cobb County, a Democrat-led area, cannot accept thousands of absentee ballots that arrive after the Election Day deadline. The court’s decision on Monday was in response to a legal challenge from the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Georgia GOP, who argued that the state law mandates absentee ballots be returned by Election Day.
The issue began when Cobb County officials announced that, as of October 30, over 3,000 absentee ballots requested by the deadline had not been mailed out. Cobb County Board of Elections Chairwoman Tori Silas said the county was unprepared for the surge in requests and lacked the equipment needed to quickly process them. The average daily requests for absentee ballots rose from 440 to 750 during the final week, creating a backlog.
MAJOR GA SUPREME COURT CASE DECIDED
Cobb County didn't get ballots out as quickly as they should have and tried to change the rules of the game. GA GOP wasn't having it.@JoshMcKoon @JFRadioShow pic.twitter.com/UQWQgkMtBq— Real America's Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) November 5, 2024
To address the delay, the county sent out the remaining ballots on November 1 with prepaid express return envelopes, aiming to help voters return them by the Tuesday deadline. Despite this effort, the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a suit, arguing that many voters could be “disenfranchised” because of the delay.
A Cobb County judge initially ruled in favor of extending the deadline, allowing voters to return ballots by November 8, provided they were postmarked by Election Day. However, the RNC and the Georgia GOP swiftly appealed, emphasizing that state law requires ballots to be returned on Election Day and pointing out that Cobb County had ensured voters received their ballots in time to meet the deadline.
BREAKING: The Georgia Supreme Court just ruled that ballots cannot be accepted and counted AFTER the deadline by election officials anywhere in the state
Democrats in Cobb County wanted to accept 3,000 mail-in ballots AFTER Election Day deadline, but the Court just shut down… pic.twitter.com/ML7AtOY7Dm
— George (@BehizyTweets) November 4, 2024
In response, the Georgia Supreme Court sided with the RNC and the Georgia GOP, pausing the lower court’s ruling and ordering the late-arriving ballots to be segregated. The court confirmed that any ballots arriving after the Election Day cutoff would not be counted.
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley celebrated the court’s decision, saying, “Democrat-run Cobb County wanted to accept 3,000 absentee ballots AFTER the Election Day deadline. We took this case to the Georgia Supreme Court. We just got word that we WON the case. Election Day is Election Day — not the week after.”
Voters who did not receive their absentee ballots in time are still eligible to vote in person.
