Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp (Photo: John Disney/ ALM)

Secretary of State Brian Kemp on Thursday asked a federal judge for an emergency stay of her temporary restraining order barring election officials across Georgia from rejecting absentee ballots because of alleged signature discrepancies.

The motion, filed by Senior Assistant Attorney General Christina Correia with the office of state Attorney General Chris Carr, sought the stay until she can appeal U.S. District Judge Leigh Martin May's orders granting and implementing the TRO.

Correia sought the stay to allow a review by the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit in Atlanta, contending an appeal “will ensure at least a measure of careful deliberation before upending the state's election processes in the middle of a general election.”

In announcing an intended appeal, Correia said Martin's restraining order added “brand new, untested processes ad hoc to long-established election procedures at the eleventh hour.” Correia also contended it “will introduce uncertainty and confusion under extreme time pressure at best” and “risks undermining the integrity of the state's election process.”

Correia also argued that receiving an absentee ballot and being able to vote by absentee ballot “together amount at most to a privilege and a convenience” rather than a fundamental right to vote.

The policies and procedures resulting in absentee ballot rejections not only don't burden citizens' fundamental right to vote, but “the entire mail ballot scheme expands the franchise by providing voters with an additional and convenient option for voting,” the motion said. Voters whose ballots are rejected—either because of signatures that don't match voter registrations or absentee ballot applications—can still vote in person or apply a second time for a ballot, Correia contended.

Correia also argued that securing statewide compliance with May's order would impose “significant administrative burdens,” including the manner in which some counties track absentee ballot rejections and the creation of what the state said were “new rights of appeal” by voters whose ballots were rejected.

The ACLU lawyers said they were disappointed that Kemp decided to appeal.

In granting the TRO in lawsuits brought by the ACLU on behalf of the Georgia Muslim Voter Project and Asian Americans Advancing Justice-Atlanta and by a group of Georgia voters and political candidates, May directed that all absentee ballots rejected because of alleged signature discrepancies be converted to provisional ballots.

May also directed that voters be sent pre-rejection notices by mail and electronically and be given an opportunity to resolve any alleged discrepancy and to confirm their identity. May said that voters who are traveling or unable to appear in person and whose ballot signatures were questioned may send an attorney to present proper identification.

She also said absentee voters have the right to appeal a ballot rejection. Appeals will not delay certification of any election unless votes under appeal would change an election's outcome.

In a lengthy Oct. 24 order granting the TRO, Martin rejected complaints that salvaging rejected absentee ballots would be “unduly burdensome.”

“The Court does not understand how assuring that all eligible voters are permitted to vote undermines integrity of the election process,” May said. “To the contrary, it strengthens it.”

Correia also raised the specter of voter fraud, contending that allowing an attorney to confirm a voter's identity “merely by having the voter's identification plainly introduces a risk of fraud—particularly absent any kind of oath or affidavit requirement for the 'attorney' presenting the voter's identification.”

And, she argued, “There is no system or reporting requirement in place for determining whether the number of ballots subject to unresolved appeals across the state is high enough to potentially change the outcome of the election.”

Read the filing below: