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Federal court grants Cox’s request

Special procedures authorized for Georgia overseas voters in primary, runoff

A U. S. District Court judge this week issued two orders authorizing special procedures to facilitate the distribution, receipt and tabulation of ballots cast by military and civilian Georgia voters residing overseas.

The orders, issued by federal judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr. in response to motions made separately by Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox and the U.S. Department of Justice, authorize Georgia election officials to extend by three days the deadline for receipt of ballots in the General Primary submitted by overseas voters who applied for an absentee ballot on or before June 21. Special procedures for expedited delivery and an extension of the counting period for such ballots are also authorized for the Aug. 10 primary runoff.

Cox, who serves as the state’s chief election official, and the Department of Justice had sought relief from the court to address problems created by delays that occurred in some Georgia counties in the printing and mailing of absentee ballots to overseas voters. A federal law, the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, includes provisions designed to guarantee that military and civilian citizens residing overseas have an opportunity to cast a valid ballot in elections that include federal candidates, if the voter makes a request for an absentee ballot within 30 days of an election. Under Georgia law, absentee ballots are prepared, mailed, received and tabulated by county officials, rather than by the state.

“I am extremely pleased that the federal court has given us authority to take special measures that can help assure that every overseas Georgia voter has an adequate opportunity to cast a vote in the upcoming primary and primary runoff,” said Cox. “Because of delays caused in part by the Larios reapportionment decision, which required the state to again reapportion legislative districts in March, and by operational issues that delayed the printing of some counties’ ballots, not all of our counties sent ballots out in time to comply with federal standards.

“These new court-authorized measures, including delivery by fax and courier as well as a three-day extension of vote counting for this group of voters, will help us assure that Georgians residing overseas, including our men and women in uniform across the globe, will have a full opportunity to make their voices heard in these important elections.ÊI am grateful to the court for giving us the tools we need to assure military and civilian overseas voters can exercise their most important right of citizenship: voting,” Cox added.

A survey of county voter registrars conducted by the state Elections Division found that some 412 overseas voters had submitted absentee ballot requests 30 days or more prior to the election but did not have ballots mailed to them within the 30-day window and, of that group, 372 ballots had not yet been returned to county registrars.

These two federal court orders address this problem, and the short time period available for voting by absentee within the 21-day period before the runoff, through a number of mechanisms (complete information on voting procedures for overseas voters is available at www.sos.state.ga.us):

• Fax. The Secretary of State and the registrars of Georgia’s 159 counties are authorized to send requested ballots to voters by facsimile transmission or e-mail and to accept the return of voter oaths and voted ballots to a single secure facsimile machine under the supervision of the Secretary of State. Fax transmissions may be sent directly to the State Election Division at 404-657-5371, or to the Federal Voting Assistance Program at one of the following Toll free FVAP numbers: (800) 368-8683; (703) 693-5527; DSN 223-5527. Citizens should be sure to fax the entire ballot including any oath or signature required on the ballot-mailing envelope. All ballots must be voted, transmitted and received by 7 p.m. EDT Aug. 10 for the runoff.

• Federal write-in ballot. The orders permit UOCAVA-protected overseas voters to use the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot, which allows voters who have not received a ballot from their county to use a federal write-in form on which candidate choices are written.

• Extending the deadline for receipt of mailed absentee ballots. The orders extend the deadline for receipt of absentee ballots mailed back to the various Georgia counties by UOCAVA-covered overseas voters by three days. Under the orders, ballots received from this group of voters would be deemed valid and counted if received by 5 p.m. EDT Friday, July 23. For the Aug. 10 primary runoff, the deadline has been extended to 5 p.m. EDT Friday, Aug. 13.

• Other means of express delivery. The order authorizes the Secretary of State to make available to UOCACA-covered overseas voters accounts with Federal Express and United Parcel Service by which absentee ballots may be returned to the state or county registrars, at no expense to the voter. The Secretary of State will bear the cost of these deliveries.ÊOverseas voters who desire to submit ballots in this manner may obtain the FedEx and UPS account numbers by contacting FVAP (toll free numbers available at www.fvap.gov), by contacting their Voting Assistance Officer (for military personnel) or the Georgia Elections Division at 404-656-2871.