Georgia court blocks voting deadline change in major county near Atlanta
Supreme court in Georgia made final choice about late-mailed ballots in Cobb County. More than three thousand voters got their mail-in ballots just days before voting deadline
The Georgia Supreme Court made a last-minute decision that affects voting rules in one of states biggest regions. In Cobb County (located right next to Atlanta) around 3‚400 people who got their mail-in ballots very late wont get extra time to send them back
The countys election office made a mistake — they didnt send out requested absentee ballots until just-before election week; which led to a quick legal back-and-forth. A lower-level judge first said: these late-delivered ballots could be counted if they got postmarked by tuesday and arrived by friday
However the states highest court stepped in and reversed this ruling. According to Georgiaʼs voting rules all mail-in ballots must arrive by the time polls close on election day (no exceptions). This means many voters who got their ballots late might need to vote in-person or risk not having their vote counted at all
The situation created a last-minute rush in this north-atlanta region — election workers and post office staff had to deal with an unexpected workload. Local voting officials tried to contact affected voters through phone-calls and emails (letting them know about their options)
