On Monday, November 4th, the Supreme Court of Georgia ruled that absentee ballots delayed in reaching Cobb County voters must be returned to election officials before Election Day to be counted. This is considered a significant victory for Republicans.
The integrity of Georgia’s elections has achieved a major triumph. “The Democratic-controlled Cobb County sought to accept 3,000 absentee ballots after the election day deadline. We have brought this case to the Supreme Court of Georgia,” said Michael Whatley, chairman of the Republican National Committee, on Twitter.
“We’ve just received the news that we’ve won this lawsuit. Election day is election day, not the whole week after. We will continue to fight, continue to win, and continue to share the latest news,” he added.
Last week, it was reported that approximately 3,000 absentee ballots were delayed in reaching Cobb County voters, just days before the election day.
A county judge ruled on November 1st that if the ballots were delivered before 5 pm on November 8th and postmarked by 7 pm on November 5th, the Cobb County Board of Elections could still count those votes.
However, the Supreme Court of Georgia sided with the Republican National Committee, overturning the county judge’s decision to extend the deadline to Friday, November 8th.
The Supreme Court of Georgia determined that only absentee ballots received by 7 pm Eastern Time on Tuesday night would be included in the count. As Georgia is one of seven fiercely contested swing states, this ruling holds significant weight in this election.
Civil rights organizations filed a lawsuit last week seeking an extension of the deadline, arguing that the county’s failure to promptly send out 3,000 absentee ballots violated state law. County officials stated that they were overwhelmed by the surge in applications and couldn’t process them in a timely manner.
The Republican National Committee believes that extending the deadline violates state law.
Cobb County, located in the northern suburbs of Atlanta, is vast and diverse in population. In the 2020 election, the county supported Democratic candidate Joe Biden by over 14 percentage points more than Trump. Biden defeated Trump in Georgia in 2020.
A spokesperson for Cobb County did not immediately comment.
The Georgia Superior Court has instructed that ballots received after the election day should be segregated and set aside. Voters who did not receive an absentee ballot or did not have enough time to mail their ballot can still vote in person on Tuesday’s election day.