COBB COUNTY, Ga. — The Georgia Supreme Court ruled late Monday that the extension granted by Cobb County that could impact thousands of mail-in voters has been reversed.
The ruling from the court reversed a lower judge’s ruling that had granted 3,000 voters an extension of the mail-in-ballot deadline after Cobb County election officials admitted they missed the deadline to ship them out. The deadline for mail-in ballots to be received in Georgia is election day — but the lower judge had given those voters an extension for them to be postmarked by election day and received by Nov. 8, the same deadline for overseas ballots.
The Republican National Committee appealed the ruling, saying it was a violation of the election code and that voters still had other ways they could vote, including in person.
The Georgia Supreme Court ordered the Cobb board to “keep separate” the absentee ballots of those voters that are received after the deadline on election day but before November 8 in a secure, safe, and sealed container separate from other voted ballots.
The court also ordered the board to notify the voters by email, text, or public announcement of the change.
At this point, all votes will need to be in by 7 p.m. on Election Day.