Cobb County Sued After Over 1,000 Absentee Ballots Were Never Mailed, Gov. Brian Kemp’s SB202 Bill Faces Blame

The impact of Georgia’s controversial Senate Bill 202 has already led to issues in the 2022 Election. On Nov. 5, Cobb County officials admitted that the office never mailed 1,048 ballots. 

Officials issued an apology and revealed that staff has been overworked, but failed to use that as an excuse. The following day, the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit to fight back against the debacle.

The ACLU’s lawsuit seeks to send ballots overnight to those voters who still need their ballots. The lawsuit also seeks to move the deadline from 7 p.m. on Election Day to Nov. 14. That is the same deadline for absentee voters in the military and overseas. 

Gov. Brian Kemp is facing backlash for his role in signing SB202 which created voter restrictions statewide. ACLU officials believe that the bill played a role in this weekend’s disaster and put pressure on election officials.

Under the previous law, voters could request their absentee ballots 180 days before the election and the county could mail them 49 days before Election Day.

The new law states that ballots can be requested 78 days before an election and can’t be mailed until 29 days before Election Day.

“We are suing to make sure all Cobb County voters are able to have their voices heard, and we look forward to the day when the state partners with counties to make voting easier, not harder, for all Georgians,” Rahul Garabadu, the ACLU of Georgia’s senior voting rights attorney, said, according to WSB. 

The Cobb County Board of Elections Chair also cited the reduced absentee ballot time frames as a factor.

President Barack Obama recently blasted Kemp for signing SB202 and admitting to doing so because he did not like the results of the 2020 election where Democrats won big. 

Obama responded to Kemp’s own word by saying, “When the governor boasted over the weekend about approving Senate Bill 202 because of his frustration with election results, he was making clear that Georgia Republicans made it harder to vote in 2021 because they didn’t like losing in 2020.”

SB 202 made numerous changes making it more difficult for Georgians to cast a ballot and have it counted, including shortening the window during which voters can request and return an absentee ballot, drastically reducing the number of ballot drop boxes and eliminating hundreds of hours of drop box availability, making it much harder to vote by provisional ballot, and making it a crime for volunteers to hand out a bottle of water or snack to voters waiting in long lines.

Stacey Abrams is seeking to upset Kemp in gubernatorial race and become the first Black woman to serve as governor in America. Election Day is Nov. 8. 

 

 

 

 

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