The ruling on mail-in voting in Georgia gives the RNC a legal victory on the eve of the election

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled Monday that mail-in ballots sent late to voters in Cobb County will only be counted if they reach election officials by Election Day, prompting the GOP leadership to take a victory lap.

“HUGE election integrity victory in Georgia. Democratic-run Cobb County wanted to accept 3,000 mail-in ballots AFTER the Election Day deadline. We have taken this case to the Georgia Supreme Court,” RNC Chairman Michael Whatley posted on X on Monday.

“We just found out we WON the case. Election day is election day – not the week after. We will keep fighting, keep winning and keep sharing news,” he added.

Last week it was revealed that approximately 3,000 mail-in ballots were late mailed to voters in Cobb County, just days before Election Day. A district judge ruled Nov. 1 that the Cobb County Board of Elections could count ballots if they arrived by 5 p.m. Nov. 8 and were postmarked by 7 p.m. Nov. 5.

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On Monday, the state Supreme Court granted an emergency request that ballots be counted only if they were received by Tuesday at 7 p.m.

Voters cast their ballots on the last day of early voting in Gwinnett County, Georgia on November 1, 2024. (Nathan Posner/Anadolu via Getty Images)

“In accordance with OCGA § 21-2-386, the Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration (the 'Board') may only count mail-in ballots received by the statutory deadline of 7:00 p.m. on Election Day, November 5, 2024. enter. “The order is.

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The ruling came after the ACLU, the ACLU of Georgia and the Southern Poverty Law Center filed a lawsuit last week against about 3,000 voters in Cobb County who did not receive mail-in ballots. A Supreme Court judge then ordered election officials to send out the late mail-in ballots overnight and ruled that the ballots should be counted if they were received by Nov. 8.

The ACLU lamented the state Supreme Court's ruling on Monday and urged “all affected voters to prioritize in-person voting on Election Day, November 5, 2024, if at all possible.”

Former President Trump speaks at a campaign rally at Santander Arena in Reading, Pennsylvania, on November 4, 2024. (Reuters/Brian Snyder)

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“This afternoon, the Georgia Supreme Court denied relief to Cobb County voters who requested mail-in ballots on time but did not receive them on time because the county failed to mail them on time. The lower court had ruled an extension of the absentee voting deadline was necessary to protect these voters' constitutional right to vote, but the Georgia Supreme Court reversed that ruling and vacated the lower court's relief. The November 8 extension issued in the previous order is no longer in effect. “the ACLU said in a statement.

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