{"id":2363978,"date":"2024-11-04T17:07:01","date_gmt":"2024-11-04T22:07:01","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ga-court-dem-led-county-cant-accept-3k-late-absentee-ballots\/"},"modified":"2024-11-04T17:08:21","modified_gmt":"2024-11-04T22:08:21","slug":"ga-court-dem-led-county-cant-accept-3k-late-absentee-ballots","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/ga-court-dem-led-county-cant-accept-3k-late-absentee-ballots\/","title":{"rendered":"GA Court: Dem-Led County Can&#8217;t Accept 3K Late Absentee Ballots"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">20<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fga-court-dem-led-county-cant-accept-3k-late-absentee-ballots%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2363978&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>The Georgia\u2062 Supreme Court ruled that Cobb County, which is run\u200c by Democrats,\u2063 cannot accept thousands of absentee ballots \u2063that were sent after Election Day. The issue arose when it was reported that over 3,000 absentee ballots had \u200bnot been mailed by the deadline. Despite \u200dthe county&#8217;s attempts to \u2062expedite the mailing of these \u200cballots, the ACLU and Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit claiming\u200b that voters would be\u2062 disenfranchised.<\/p>\n<p>A lower court had allowed late ballots to be received \u2064until November 8 if postmarked by November 5, but this ruling was challenged by the Republican \u2063National \u2062Committee (RNC) and the Georgia Republican Party. They argued that <a href=\"https:\/\/amzn.to\/3YuVZYV\">state law requires absentee ballots<\/a> \u200cto be returned by Election Day and that extending\u2064 the deadline was unnecessary since voters\u200b had the option\u2064 to vote in \u200dperson or deliver their ballots personally.<\/p>\n<p>The Georgia Supreme Court agreed with the RNC, pausing the lower court&#8217;s ruling, meaning late absentee ballots will not \u2062be counted and must be set aside until\u2063 further notice. Voters who did not receive their ballots are still able to vote in person. The RNC celebrated \u2064the ruling, \u2064emphasizing the importance of adhering to the Election Day deadline.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div class=\"article-body body-md bdr-top-black pt-30\">\n<div class=\"row justify-content-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12\">\n<figure class=\"article-thumbnail mb-30 mb-sm-60\">\n<div class=\"article-thumbnail-caption d-flex align-items-center justify-content-md-end label-xs mt-15\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-camera me-10\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Image Credit<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.pexels.com\/photo\/sign-pointing-to-a-ballot-drop-box-17322139\/\">  Greg Thames\/ Pexels <\/a>       <\/div>\n<\/figure><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-share text-center article-share-simple\">\n<h5 class=\"label-sm mb-10\">Share<\/h5>\n<ul class=\"article-share-list list-unstyled m-0 p-0\">\n<li class=\"article-share-facebook m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer\/sharer.php?u=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/04\/georgia-supreme-court-rules-democrat-led-county-cant-accept-thousands-of-late-absentee-ballots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-facebook\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Facebook<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-twitter m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=Georgia%20Supreme%20Court%20Rules%20Democrat-Led%20County%20Can%E2%80%99t%20Accept%20Thousands%20Of%20Late%20Absentee%20Ballots&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/04\/georgia-supreme-court-rules-democrat-led-county-cant-accept-thousands-of-late-absentee-ballots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Twitter<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-truth-social m-0\">       <a href=\"https:\/\/truthsocial.com\/share?title=Georgia%20Supreme%20Court%20Rules%20Democrat-Led%20County%20Can%E2%80%99t%20Accept%20Thousands%20Of%20Late%20Absentee%20Ballots&amp;url=https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/04\/georgia-supreme-court-rules-democrat-led-county-cant-accept-thousands-of-late-absentee-ballots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">         <svg xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" fill=\"currentColor\" style=\"width:36px;height:auto;\" viewbox=\"0 0 92 93\"><path d=\"M69.444 55.716H56.772v10.37h12.672zM64.487 37.795V27.32H38.666v38.664h13.18v-28.19zM21.05 27.321h12.653v10.471H21.051z\" https:><\/path><\/svg>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article on Truth Social<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-link m-0\">       <button data-clipboard-text=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/04\/georgia-supreme-court-rules-democrat-led-county-cant-accept-thousands-of-late-absentee-ballots\/\" data-tooltip-content=\"Copied!\" class=\"clip tooltip\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-link-variant\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Copy Article Link<\/span>       <\/button>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\">       <a href=\"mailto:?subject=Georgia%20Supreme%20Court%20Rules%20Democrat-Led%20County%20Can%E2%80%99t%20Accept%20Thousands%20Of%20Late%20Absentee%20Ballots&amp;body=%20https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/11\/04\/georgia-supreme-court-rules-democrat-led-county-cant-accept-thousands-of-late-absentee-ballots\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">         <i class=\"mdi mdi-email\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>         <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Share Article via Email<\/span>       <\/a>     <\/li>\n<li class=\"article-share-email m-0\"><span class=\"printfriendly pf-button  pf-alignleft\"><a target=\"_blank\" href=\"http:\/\/thefederalist.com\/#\" rel=\"nofollow noopener\" onclick=\"window.print(); return false;\" title=\"Printer Friendly, PDF &amp; Email\"><span id=\"printfriendly-text2\" class=\"pf-button-text\"><i class=\"mdi mdi-printer\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i><\/span><\/a><\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<p>The Georgia Supreme Court ruled on Monday that Democrat-run Cobb County cannot accept thousands of absentee ballots that arrive <em>after<\/em> the Election Day deadline.<\/p>\n<p>Cobb County <a href=\"https:\/\/www.cobbcounty.org\/elections\/news\/cobb-elections-express-shipping-thousands-outstanding-absentee-ballots\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">announced<\/a> on Thursday that as of Oct. 30, &ldquo;more than 3,000 absentee ballots requested by last Friday&rsquo;s deadline had not been mailed.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-272bf9a1d523750794bd0222af6066cc fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-2\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-272bf9a1d523750794bd0222af6066cc\"><\/div>\n<p>Cobb County Board of Elections Chairwoman Tori Silas said that the county was &ldquo;taking every possible step to get these ballots to the voters who requested them&rdquo; but that the county was &ldquo;unprepared for the surge in requests and lacked the necessary equipment to process the ballots quickly.&rdquo; While absentee ballot requests had &ldquo;been averaging 440 per day &hellip; that number surged to 750 per day&rdquo; during the final week to request an absentee ballot, the county said.<\/p>\n<p>To remedy the issue, the county announced on Thursday that it would overnight the late ballots for a Friday morning (Nov. 1) delivery with &ldquo;prepaid express return envelopes to ensure voters can return them by Tuesday&rsquo;s deadline.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>But on Friday, the ACLU and the Southern Poverty Law Center <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracydocket.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/2024-11-01-Complaint.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">filed a suit<\/a> arguing that, despite the county taking steps to get the ballots delivered to voters by Friday, voters would be &ldquo;disenfranchised.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Cobb County Judge Robert Flournoy bought the bogus argument, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracydocket.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/2024.11.01_24GC08111_Order_5vk4m81d-1.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">ruling<\/a> on Friday that the 3,000 or so voters who received a late mail-in ballot could return those ballots before 5 p.m. on Nov. 8  &mdash; three full days after Election Day &mdash; as long as the ballots were postmarked by 7 p.m. on Nov. 5.<\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a3d1460a08aa1848979d1524745ea1b1 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-6\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-a3d1460a08aa1848979d1524745ea1b1\"><\/div>\n<p>The Republican National Committee and the Georgia Republican Party <a href=\"https:\/\/www.democracydocket.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/2024-11-02-Emergency-petition-for-supersedeas.pdf\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">appealed the ruling<\/a> to the Georgia Supreme Court, arguing that <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wisconsin-audit-finds-that-2020-election-was-secure-voting-machines-counted-accurately\/\" title=\"Wisconsin Audit Finds That 2020 Election Was Secure, Voting Machines Counted Accurately\">state law mandates<\/a> the return of absentee ballots on Election Day and that since Cobb County paid for express return postage and overnighted the ballots to voters in order to &mdash; as Cobb County said &mdash; &ldquo;ensure voters can return [the ballots] by Tuesday&rsquo;s deadline,&rdquo; there is no need to extend the date for acceptance.<\/p>\n<p>The appeal also argued that Georgia &ldquo;does not guarantee a right to vote <em>by mail<\/em>.&rdquo; Rather, &ldquo;Voters still have many options to vote, including by voting in person or delivering their absentee ballots in person.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>The Georgia Supreme Court agreed, granting the RNC and Georgia GOP&rsquo;s motion to pause the lower court ruling. This means any late-arriving absentee ballots will not be counted. The court also ordered the <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/alaskas-elections-should-encourage-clear-choices-and-clear-winners-by-tim-griffin\/\" title=\"Alaska\u2019s Elections Should Encourage Clear Choices and Clear Winners. \u2013 By Tim Griffin\">late-arriving ballots<\/a> sent in by the 3,000 voters to be segregated until further notice from the court.<\/p>\n<p>Voters who did not receive their mail-in ballot may vote in person on Tuesday. <\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-bde520c08df908da66d8341de0f12e04 fdrlst__b89e9-paragraph-10\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-bde520c08df908da66d8341de0f12e04\"><\/div>\n<p>RNC Chairman Michael Whatley <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/ChairmanWhatley\/status\/1853534896452444306\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">celebrated the ruling<\/a> in a post on X. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;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 &mdash; not the week after,&rdquo; Whatley said. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We will keep fighting, keep winning, and keep sharing updates.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p><em>For more election news and updates, visit&nbsp;electionbriefing.com.<\/em><\/p>\n<div class=\"fdrlst__b89e9-fb2cc0ebf0c4b561337d7929c3950cc6 fdrlst__b89e9-after-post-content\" id=\"fdrlst__b89e9-fb2cc0ebf0c4b561337d7929c3950cc6\"><\/div>\n<hr class=\"wp-block-separator\">\n<div class=\"article-author-description fst-italic\">      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-30 bdr-top-bold-black\">\n<div class=\"row g-0 align-items-center\">\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6\">\n<div class=\"article-author-profile d-flex align-items-center justify-content-center justify-content-md-start\">\n<div class=\"article-author-details\">\n<div class=\"label-md\">Brianna Lyman<\/div>\n<div class=\"article-author-twitter label-sm d-flex align-items-center mt-10\">             <i class=\"mdi mdi-twitter me-5\" aria-hidden=\"true\"><\/i>             <span class=\"visually-hidden\">Visit on Twitter<\/span>            <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/briannalyman2\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"text-decoration-none\" rel=\"noopener\">@briannalyman2<\/a>           <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"col-12 col-md-6 d-flex justify-content-center justify-content-md-end mt-15 mt-md-0\">        <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/author\/briannalyman\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">More Articles<\/a>     <\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<div class=\"article-tags bdr-top-black mt-30 mt-sm-60 pt-15 pt-md-45\">\n<ul class=\"list-unstyled d-flex flex-wrap align-items-center mb-0 mx-n10 p-0\">\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/2024-presidential-election\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">2024 presidential election<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/absentee-ballots\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">absentee ballots<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/cobb-county\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Cobb County<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/election-integrity\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">election integrity<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/election-security\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">election security<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/elections\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Elections<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/georgia\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Georgia<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/georgia-supreme-court\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Georgia Supreme Court<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/kamala-harris\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Kamala Harris<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/michael-whatley\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">Michael Whatley<\/a><\/li>\n<li class=\"mt-10 mx-10\"><a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/tag\/rnc\/\" class=\"btn btn-black btn-small\">RNC<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul><\/div>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Georgia Supreme Court ruled that Cobb County cannot accept absentee ballots received after Election Day<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2363979,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/pexels-greg-thames-12409424-17322139-e1730754454358.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[546],"tags":[44340,44339,44341],"class_list":["post-2363978","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-the-federalist","tag-dem-led-county","tag-ga-court","tag-late-absentee-ballots"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/pexels-greg-thames-12409424-17322139-e1730754454358.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363978","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2363978"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363978\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":2363982,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2363978\/revisions\/2363982"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2363979"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2363978"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2363978"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2363978"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}