Georgia elections offices accept hand-delivered ballots despite GOP opposition

ATLANTA — Election officials in several Georgia counties accepted hand-delivered mail-in ballots over the weekend after a judge rejected a lawsuit by Republicans seeking to block the practice.

The lawsuits were filed in Atlanta and Savannah.

The Trump campaign, Republican National Committee and Georgia Republican Party said in a statement Saturday night that they had sent letters to six counties demanding that all ballots received after Friday be kept separate from other ballots, saying they intend to file in court on this issue. Letters were sent to Chatham, Athens-Clarke, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties.

The Fulton County lawsuit was filed late Friday and cited a section of Georgia law that says ballot drop boxes cannot be opened after primary voting ends Friday. But state law says voters can deliver their absentee ballots in person to county election offices before polls close at 7 p.m. on Election Day. Despite that clear language, attorney Alex Kaufman initially argued at a special hearing on Saturday that voters were not allowed to personally deliver absentee ballots that were mailed to them.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kevin Farmer repeatedly rejected Kaufman’s arguments in an online hearing before ruling against him orally.

The 21-page lawsuit filed in Savannah alleges that state county offices were “unlawfully” open over the weekend.

The federal and state lawsuits are the latest move by Republicans challenging Georgia’s election procedures.

Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer of the Georgia Secretary of State, responded to the claims on Twitter, saying: “To be clear, no election laws were broken in Georgia today. The law makes clear that government buildings can be used to accept absentee ballots. The judge announced this this morning. SOS monitors, observers and investigators were stationed at Fulton’s offices. 104 ballots landed there.”

What will you need to bring to the polls?

Voters must present any of these photo IDs at polling places:

• Any valid photo identification issued by the state or federal government, including a free identification card issued by your county recorder’s office or the Georgia Department of Driver Services.
• Georgia driver’s license, even if expired.
• Valid photo identification of an employee of any branch, department, agency or entity of the United States Government, Georgia or any county, municipality, board, authority or other state entity.
• Valid US passport.
• Valid U.S. Military Identification with Voter Photo.
• A student photo ID issued by a Georgia public college, university or technical school.
• A valid Tribal Photo ID containing your photograph.

Voters who are unable to provide photo identification may vote by provisional ballot. They will need to provide a copy of their ID within three days of the election to the county Board of Elections and Registration.

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