Gwinnett overnighting ballots to voters still waiting days before election

About 1,800 Gwinnett County voters who asked to vote by mail were still waiting on their absentee ballots days before Tuesday’s election, a lawsuit says, and the county has agreed to overnight them replacements.

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The ACLU, the Southern Poverty Law Center and the Legal Defense Fund sued the county’s elections board Friday on behalf of a Gwinnett County college student in New York and 1,819 other voters.

The county agreed Saturday to contact voters whose ballots had not come back and send them new ones overnight with return postage paid, according to the Southern Poverty Law Center. Those ballots must reach the county elections office by 7 p.m. Tuesday to count.

“We have not received any type of official statement from the counties as to any issues with the vendor, but it warrants asking what happened here and getting to the bottom of it,” said Carlos Andino, a senior staff attorney with the Southern Poverty Law Center.

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The student requested his ballot Oct. 9 and still did not have it Oct. 29, according to the lawsuit, which says he cannot make it home during the semester to vote in person.

Voting rights attorneys say Gwinnett County uses the same Albany, New York, company as Cobb and DeKalb counties to print and mail absentee ballots. DeKalb County reached a similar agreement Friday.

Attorneys for the voters say more of the missing ballots have come in since they sued Friday, but they are not ready to credit the county’s agreement yet.

“We believe that there has been a meaningful increase in the return rate,” said Imani Brooks of the Legal Defense Fund. “We will have to keep investigating to see the reason for that increase.”

A Gwinnett County spokesperson responded to questions Monday with a short statement: “Our focus is on tomorrow’s election at this time.”

The groups suggest counties collect voters’ email addresses and phone numbers so they can quickly alert voters to delayed ballots, ideally in time to vote early instead.

“Through advocacy, through policy work now, we can make sure to shore up those gaps for the next election,” Andino said.

Voters still waiting on a ballot can reach Gwinnett County Voter Registrations and Elections at 678-226-7210 or [email protected].

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