Two civil rights groups have filed a lawsuit seeking extra time to ensure Cobb County residents who have not yet received absentee ballots can vote.
The county acknowledged it has not yet mailed ballots to more than 3,000 voters — though the deadline to return the ballots is Tuesday. County officials say they’re taking “extraordinary measures” to ensure voters receive the ballots.
On Friday the American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit in Cobb County Superior Court asking the court to require the county to send the ballots by overnight delivery and to extend the deadline to return them from Nov. 5 to Nov. 8. The groups are seeking an emergency hearing to address the matter.
“Voters risk not having their voices heard in this important election because counties have been set up to fail by Georgia’s anti-voter law,” said Andrea Young, executive director of the ACLU of Georgia.
On Thursday, county officials said there was a surge of absentee ballot requests last Friday, the deadline for requesting absentee ballots. Election Director Tate Fall attributed the county’s inability to quickly deliver requested ballots to an equipment failure.
The county planned to ship the remaining ballots via U.S. Postal Service Express Mail or UPS Overnight for delivery today. The ballots will come with prepaid express return envelopes, and the county is extending the period in which absentee voters can return their ballots to the Cobb Elections Headquarters through 8 p.m. Monday.
In their lawsuit, the civil rights groups said the county’s measures “are not nearly enough” to safeguard the right to vote for the affected people.
A hearing is set for 1:30 p.m. today.
HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
HYOSUB SHIN / AJC
Staff writer Caleb Groves contributed to this report
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