Judge extends deadline to return absentee ballots in Georgia

[RandySF]

A federal judge on Monday said Georgia absentee ballots postmarked by Election Day must be counted, adding a new wrinkle to ongoing discussions about mail-in voting during the coronavirus pandemic.

The decision from U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross extends a previous deadline that would have rejected absentee ballots that arrived after 7 p.m. on Election Day. Officials will be required to count absentee ballots postmarked by Nov. 3 and arriving within three business days of it, according to the 70-page order.

“Extending the deadline would ensure that voters who receive their ballots shortly before Election Day are able to mail their ballots without fear that their vote will not count,” Ross wrote in the order.

She issued the order just months after New Georgia Project, a voter registration group, filed a lawsuit seeking a preliminary injunction blocking officials from enforcing Georgia's 7 p.m. deadline.



https://thehill.com/homenews/campaign/514474-judge-extends-deadline-to-return-absentee-ballots-in-georgia

[jpak]

1. The Govnah won't like this

[bluestarone]

2. GREAT! now

Will the post office post mark them? THAT will be our next problem!

[brer cat]

3. That is encouraging, but I will still drop off my ballot

in the drop box at our Registrar's Office. I'm taking no chances with USPS under DeJoy.

[W_HAMILTON]

4. I would be wary of decisions like this -- return your ballots as early as you possible can anyway.

Does anyone have faith that, if appealed up to the Supreme Court, that the Republican majority wouldn't overturn this decision, thus invalidating the vote for any voter that was otherwise relying on this decision? I believe Wisconsin essentially did the same thing, but at the state supreme court level.

Moral of the story: return your absentee/mail-in ballot as early as possible and do not wait until the last moment, even if a certain court says you have at least that amount of time, because a higher court can just as easily overturn their decision AFTER the fact, AFTER the election, thus invalidating your vote.

[Awsi Dooger]

5. That sounds like the same standards approved in Pennsylvania

A couple of weeks ago

Sounds good on the surface

[onetexan]

6. K&R

[crickets]

7. Good news! I'm still going to put on mask and gloves and vote early. nt