New Lawsuit Raises Alarms About Absentee Ballot Rejections
The lawsuit contends that too many absentee ballots are being rejected for arbitrary or capricious reasons without voters' knowledge.
October 16, 2018 at 11:19 AM
5 minute read
A new federal lawsuit is sounding more alarms about the security and accuracy of Georgia's midterm election, citing arbitrary and allegedly capricious practices that are causing “unacceptably high” rejections of absentee ballots.
The suit, filed late Monday in federal court in Atlanta, also singles out Gwinnett County for an escalating number of absentee ballot rejections. What was once a majority white bedroom community north of Atlanta has become a predominantly minority county still largely governed by white officials.
The suit contends that 171 African-American voters' ballots were rejected and 66 white voters' ballots were rejected through Oct. 12. It also contends that, while Asian and Pacific Islanders constituted about 15 percent of the mail ballot voters through Oct. 12, 25 percent of those mail ballots were rejected.
The suit was filed amid growing concerns and nationwide publicity about Georgia's antiquated computer voting machines and the outdated infrastructure supporting it. It contends that applications for paper absentee ballots have surged and that many candidates are urging Georgians to vote by mail in order to ensure their ballots are counted.
But that may not be the case, the suit contends. It says that ballots are being rejected for “even the smallest clerical error or a question about a voter's signature,” and if a voter fills in the date he or she signs the ballot rather than their date of birth.
Those determinations are being made without the oversight of supervisors or poll watchers, the lawsuit contends.
Atlanta attorney Bruce Brown filed the complaint on behalf of two Gwinnett County voters, one of whom works for a Democratic candidate for Congress, a Fulton County voter, a Democratic candidate running for a Georgia House district in Gwinnett and the Libertarian candidate for secretary of state. It names Secretary of State Brian Kemp, who is running for governor on the Republican ticket, and members of the state and Gwinnett County election boards as defendants.
Gwinnett County election officials rejected 6 percent of its absentee ballots prior to the 2016 presidential election, according to the complaint. In the May 2018 primary, it rejected 9.6 percent of the ballots, according to the suit. Through Oct. 12, the county has rejected 9.6 percent of the absentee ballots sent in advance of Nov. 6 election.
Meanwhile, Fulton County, the state's most populous county, has rejected no mail ballots as of Oct. 12.
Even though state law requires prompt notification to electors whose absentee ballots are rejected, the suit alleges that any mailed ballots with discrepancies received on or the day before Election Day “would have almost no chance of cure given that, unlike provisional ballots of polling place voters, there are no post-Election Day cure processes that apply to mail ballots.”
Georgia law also forbids voters from personally delivering mail ballots to their home precinct on Election Day and instead requires that they go only to their county's central election office. Georgia law also bars voters from marking their mail ballots on Election Day, even if the ballot is hand-delivered.
The suit seeks an injunction that would direct state election officials to decide within three days of its receipt whether an absentee ballot is defective, notify the voter within 24 hours, send the voter a new application that includes reasons for the prior rejection and instructions on how to cure it.
It seeks to curtail ballot rejections because of signature discrepancies by requiring county election officials to immediately establish bipartisan signature review committees.
The suit also asks that mail ballots not be rejected because of an incorrect or missing date of birth.
“The plaintiffs brought this suit because the Georgia election officials, under the direction of Secretary Kemp, are rejecting perfectly valid ballots from eligible voters for arbitrary and capricious reasons and not giving the voters a reasonable opportunity to fix the perceived mistakes,” Brown said. “These election officials should want and encourage people to vote, and help them cast a vote, but instead some are using everything at their disposal to deny these people–many of them elderly and disabled—this fundamental political right. We hope that Secretary Kemp, rather than fight this lawsuit, simply does the right thing and orders election officials statewide to give mail ballot voters a reasonable opportunity to cure any perceived mistakes in their paperwork.”
Kemp spokeswoman Candice Broce said Tuesday that, under state law, voter eligibility for absentee mail ballots is “solely determined by local officials.”
“The secretary of state cannot and does not make those calls,” she said, adding that the state election board does not make those determinations either.
The Daily Report has contacted Gwinnett County's spokesman for comment on the complaint and is awaiting his reply.
This content has been archived. It is available through our partners, LexisNexis® and Bloomberg Law.
To view this content, please continue to their sites.
Not a Lexis Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
Not a Bloomberg Law Subscriber?
Subscribe Now
NOT FOR REPRINT
© 2024 ALM Global, LLC, All Rights Reserved. Request academic re-use from www.copyright.com. All other uses, submit a request to [email protected]. For more information visit Asset & Logo Licensing.
You Might Like
View AllFowler White Burnett Opens Jacksonville Office Focused on Transportation Practice
3 minute readOn The Move: Polsinelli Adds Health Care Litigator in Nashville, Ex-SEC Enforcer Joins BCLP in Atlanta
6 minute readWoman's Suit Alleging Negligence to Sex Trafficking by Hotel Tossed by Federal Judge
Trending Stories
- 1Bonus Parade Continues, With Additional Firms Matching Milbank
- 2Contract Software Unicorn Ironclad Hires Former Pinterest Lawyer as GC
- 3European, US Litigation Funding Experts Look for Commonalities at NYU Event
- 4UPS Agrees to $45M Settlement With SEC Over Valuation Claim
- 5For Midsize Law Firms, Curbing Boys-Club Culture Starts with Diversity at the Top
Who Got The Work
Michael G. Bongiorno, Andrew Scott Dulberg and Elizabeth E. Driscoll from Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr have stepped in to represent Symbotic Inc., an A.I.-enabled technology platform that focuses on increasing supply chain efficiency, and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The case, filed Oct. 2 in Massachusetts District Court by the Brown Law Firm on behalf of Stephen Austen, accuses certain officers and directors of misleading investors in regard to Symbotic's potential for margin growth by failing to disclose that the company was not equipped to timely deploy its systems or manage expenses through project delays. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Nathaniel M. Gorton, is 1:24-cv-12522, Austen v. Cohen et al.
Who Got The Work
Edmund Polubinski and Marie Killmond of Davis Polk & Wardwell have entered appearances for data platform software development company MongoDB and other defendants in a pending shareholder derivative lawsuit. The action, filed Oct. 7 in New York Southern District Court by the Brown Law Firm, accuses the company's directors and/or officers of falsely expressing confidence in the company’s restructuring of its sales incentive plan and downplaying the severity of decreases in its upfront commitments. The case is 1:24-cv-07594, Roy v. Ittycheria et al.
Who Got The Work
Amy O. Bruchs and Kurt F. Ellison of Michael Best & Friedrich have entered appearances for Epic Systems Corp. in a pending employment discrimination lawsuit. The suit was filed Sept. 7 in Wisconsin Western District Court by Levine Eisberner LLC and Siri & Glimstad on behalf of a project manager who claims that he was wrongfully terminated after applying for a religious exemption to the defendant's COVID-19 vaccine mandate. The case, assigned to U.S. Magistrate Judge Anita Marie Boor, is 3:24-cv-00630, Secker, Nathan v. Epic Systems Corporation.
Who Got The Work
David X. Sullivan, Thomas J. Finn and Gregory A. Hall from McCarter & English have entered appearances for Sunrun Installation Services in a pending civil rights lawsuit. The complaint was filed Sept. 4 in Connecticut District Court by attorney Robert M. Berke on behalf of former employee George Edward Steins, who was arrested and charged with employing an unregistered home improvement salesperson. The complaint alleges that had Sunrun informed the Connecticut Department of Consumer Protection that the plaintiff's employment had ended in 2017 and that he no longer held Sunrun's home improvement contractor license, he would not have been hit with charges, which were dismissed in May 2024. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Jeffrey A. Meyer, is 3:24-cv-01423, Steins v. Sunrun, Inc. et al.
Who Got The Work
Greenberg Traurig shareholder Joshua L. Raskin has entered an appearance for boohoo.com UK Ltd. in a pending patent infringement lawsuit. The suit, filed Sept. 3 in Texas Eastern District Court by Rozier Hardt McDonough on behalf of Alto Dynamics, asserts five patents related to an online shopping platform. The case, assigned to U.S. District Judge Rodney Gilstrap, is 2:24-cv-00719, Alto Dynamics, LLC v. boohoo.com UK Limited.
Featured Firms
Law Offices of Gary Martin Hays & Associates, P.C.
(470) 294-1674
Law Offices of Mark E. Salomone
(857) 444-6468
Smith & Hassler
(713) 739-1250