State elections board investigating Cobb absentee issues
Dec. 5—Georgia's State Elections Board has opened an investigation into Cobb County's absentee ballot mailing issues raised last week.
The board met in an emergency closed-door session over the weekend to discuss the court-ordered extension of the absentee ballot return deadline for some Cobb voters, according to a notice on its website.
The order, from Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill, came in response to a lawsuit filed Thursday by the American Civil Liberties Union and Southern Poverty Law Center. The MDJ reported last Wednesday that the mailing of thousands of ballots had been delayed by the Thanksgiving holiday, with Elections Director Janine Eveler putting the number of affected ballots at more than 3,400.
Attorneys for the ACLU argued the delay would make it impossible for many voters to return their ballot on time, effectively disenfranchising them from the Dec. 6 U.S. Senate runoff election.
After negotiations between the ACLU and the Cobb Board of Elections, Hill signed off on an agreement Friday to extend the absentee ballot deadline by three days — to Dec. 9 — for any voter whose absentee ballot application was accepted on or before Nov. 26.
Ballots in that category must be postmarked by Tuesday.
A statement from State Elections Board Chairman William Duffey Jr. said the board would "continue to monitor the lawsuit," but had not yet taken any official action.
The investigation will be combined with one already open on Cobb's failure to mail over 1,000 absentee ballots in a timely fashion before the Nov. 8 general election, Duffey added.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's office did not respond to a request for comment by press time.
