The Republican National Committee and the Georgia GOP have filed a lawsuit in federal court challenging hand-returned absentee ballots received this weekend in the Georgia counties of Fulton, DeKalb, Cobb, Gwinnett, Athens-Clarke, Clayton and Chatham.
The lawsuit claims allowing voters to return absentee ballots in person at election offices over the weekend and Monday violates state law. Republicans are asking the court to prevent absentee ballots from being accepted at election offices between November 2 and November 4, and asking the court to order the election offices to segregate any ballots returned in person to election offices on those dates.
The new lawsuit comes after Republicans lost a legal fight on nearly the same issues in Fulton County Superior Court this weekend. Republicans sought to block Fulton County from accepting hand-returned absentee ballots. A judge rejected the request, ruling that it was not a violation of state law for voters to return their absentee ballots in person to county election offices.
Keep in mind: This election cycle — in which a former president who tried to overturn his 2020 loss is topping the Republican ticket — has featured an unprecedented amount of pre-election litigation, with the GOP touting that it’s been involved in 130 cases.
The GOP’s aggressive approach in court has gone hand in hand with former President Donald Trump’s strategy of using the courts to preemptively cast doubt on the 2024 results.
