MARIETTA, Ga. — In a recent announcement, officials in Cobb County, Georgia’s third-largest county, revealed that they are behind schedule in sending out over 3,000 absentee ballots to voters, just days ahead of the upcoming election.
To remedy the situation, the election authorities are utilizing express mail services from the U.S. Postal Service and UPS’s overnight delivery to ensure that the ballots reach the voters on time. It is crucial for mail-in ballots to be submitted by Election Day, which falls on Tuesday, in order to be counted.
“We aim to maintain voter confidence by keeping everyone informed about the current situation,” stated Tori Silas, the chair of the county’s Board of Elections, in a recent press release. “We are making every effort to deliver these ballots to all who have requested them.”
The reason for the delay has been attributed to malfunctioning equipment and a significant last-minute increase in absentee ballot requests just a week before the deadline on October 25.
The delayed ballots are being mailed with prepaid express return envelopes, a move that election officials believe will facilitate their timely return.
Georgia has witnessed a remarkable surge in early voting, with record numbers being reported since it began on October 15. As of Thursday, over 3.6 million ballots had already been cast, representing more than half of the state’s active voters, as noted by the office of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. This includes over 226,000 absentee votes.
In Cobb County, officials assured voters who might be affected by the late absentee ballots that they still have the option to cast their votes in person on the last day of early voting, which is Friday, or on Election Day itself. The county’s election office has extended its hours for accepting hand-delivered absentee ballots through the weekend and into Monday.
However, officials also mentioned that over 1,000 of the late absentee ballots are being sent to voters residing outside of Georgia.
In response to the situation, two civil rights organizations—the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center—filed a lawsuit on Friday, urging a Cobb County judge to allow a three-day extension for counting ballots that are postmarked by Election Day until November 8.
The lawsuit was brought on behalf of three Cobb County voters who indicated that they had still not received their absentee ballots in the mail by Friday. It stated that while the county election officials have made some attempts to address the issue, their efforts fall significantly short of protecting the voters’ rights.
