Georgia elections board to investigate Cobb absentee ballot issues

The Georgia Elections Board says it is looking into the delayed mailing of absentee ballots to some Cobb voters for the U.S. Senate runoff. State Elections Board Cobb absentee ballots

The board held an emergency meeting Saturday to say it would be conducting a probe into 3,442 absentee ballots that were mailed last Monday due to the Thanksgiving holiday weekend.

Three Cobb voters filed a lawsuit to get extended time to return their ballots, and a consent decree was ordered Friday by a Cobb Superior Court judge.

Those voters who received ballots on or before Nov. 26 will have until Friday, Dec. 9, to return their ballots, but they must be postmarked by Tuesday, election day in the runoff between Democratic U.S. Sen. Raphael Warnock and Republican Herschel Walker.

But at a court hearing Friday, Cobb Elections protested the extension of time, and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger also objected.

They said that the proper processes were followed for mailing absentee ballots for the runoff, which has an 11-day window. The Cobb Elections office was closed on Friday following Thanksgiving as it’s a county holiday.

On Sunday, Cobb County government sent a message saying Cobb Elections would cooperate with the state elections board investigation.

“Voting by absentee ballot has become increasingly popular, with Cobb County issuing more absentee ballots than any county in the state during the runoff,” the Cobb statement said. “Our office and other elections offices across the state face challenges created by this increased demand and the reduced timelines for absentee ballot processing and distribution mandated under SB202.

“The Cobb Board of Elections and Registration is committed to reviewing and updating our processes and procedures following the December 6 runoff and will incorporate any findings from state officials into our review and updates.”

Final voting in the U.S. Senate runoff is Tuesday, with the polls open at regular voting precincts from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m.

Absentee voters not affected by Friday’s consent order have until 7 p.m. Tuesday to return their ballots to the Cobb Elections Office at 995 Roswell Street.

They can also take their absentee ballot to their regular polling station and cancel it and vote in-person.

Every Sunday we round up the week’s top headlines and preview the upcoming week in the East Cobb News Digest. Click here to sign up, and you’re good to go!

1 thought on “Georgia elections board to investigate Cobb absentee ballot issues”

The Georgia legislature and Governor broke parts of the absentee voting process and they seem out to prevent legal voters from … er … voting.
I’d planned to drop my ballot off at the local library on Saturday, because I’d done the same for the November election. Got there to discover
a) they didn’t have a drop box or any people inside to accept ballots.
b) that I’d need to hand delivery the ballot to the main election office on Monday/Tuesday in Marietta to vote … or stand in the COVID line with my neighbors. Neither were an option. I wasn’t going to take a cab to vote.
We need 24/7 drop off boxes for legal voters to have convenient ways to drop off their ballots.
I don’t know when they mailed the ballot to me. I do know I got it Dec 1. Rather than risk all sorts of issues, I put a stamp on it and mailed it yesterday (Monday). If they don’t get it in time, it is even more reason to vote differently.
Not using paper to vote is not an option for me. I want a voting method that can be audited.
It shouldn’t be this hard for a Cobb resident of 25+ yrs to vote. It just shouldn’t.
I’m extremely dissatisfied with our state representatives who are out to make voting harder, not easier.

Comments are closed.