The Independent View: Lawsuit Settled Giving GA Voters Time to Fix Rejected Ballots

Georgia Voters must be Quickly Notified when Election Officials Reject their Absentee Ballots, allowing them Time to Correct Problems and have their Ballots Counted, according to a Settlement with the Democratic Party Announced Saturday.

Under the Settlement in Federal Court, Georgia Election Officials Agreed to Contact Voters whose Ballots were Rejected by Email, Phone, and Mail, within Three Business Days.

Voters must be Contacted the Next Business day if Absentee ballots are Invalidated during the 11 days before Election Day.

The Agreement resolves a Lawsuit filed in November 2019 over 8,157 Absentee Ballots that were Thrown Out in the 2018 General Election, about 3% of All Absentee Ballots Returned by Mail.

Election Officials Rejected Ballots because they believed Voters’ Signatures didn’t Match those on File, and when Information on Absentee Ballot Envelopes was Missing or Incorrect.

Many of the Absentee Ballot Rejections occurred in Gwinnett County, which Imposed Strict Standards for Absentee Ballots and Discarded 1,733.

A New Absentee Ballot Envelope Design for Gwinnett, with Clearer Text and Instructions, is part of the Agreement between the Democratic Party of Georgia, Democratic Senatorial Campaign Committee, Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the State Election Board, and Gwinnett Election Officials. The Updated Design must be in Place for the Nov. 3rd General Election.

State Law requires Election Officials to “promptly notify” Voters of Problems with their Signatures, but Some Voters who Mailed their Ballots near Election Day weren’t Informed in Time to Submit a Revised Provisional Ballot along with Identification Information. Voters have Three Days after Election Day to Correct Issues with an Absentee Ballot, according to a State Law Passed last year.

In addition, the Settlement Requires more thorough Procedures before Election Officials can Reject a Ballot because of Discrepancies in Voters’ Signatures. A Majority of County Election Officials reviewing Absentee Ballots must Agree that Signatures Don’t Match, comparing them with All Signatures they have on File.