Georgia opens probe of unmailed Cobb County absentee ballots after lawsuit - CNBC

Follow CNBC's unrecorded blog covering Monday's campaigns up of the Nov. 8 midterm elections.

Georgia's caput of authorities opened an probe Monday into the Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration's nonaccomplishment to message much than 1,000 absentee ballots to voters, aft 2 civilian rights groups filed a suit related to that situation.

Within hours of the probe being announced, a lawyer for the plaintiffs successful the suit told NBC News that Cobb County agreed to widen the absentee ballot deadline to Nov. 14.

The probe was announced a time earlier Election Day, erstwhile 1 of Georgia's U.S. Senate seats, each of the state's legislature districts and its governor's bureau are up for grabs.

In the Senate race, polls amusement a statistical deadlock betwixt incumbent Democratic Sen. Raphael Warnock and Herschel Walker, the erstwhile shot prima who is the Republican nominee. The contention is 1 of a fistful that volition determine which enactment controls the Senate.

In a statement, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger's bureau called the unmailed ballots "unacceptable."

"We person opened an probe and volition notation to the State elections committee to find due consequences," the bureau said.

Raffensperger, who is the state's apical predetermination official, is 1 of the defendants successful the lawsuit, on with Cobb County committee officials and the authorities predetermination board.

The American Civil Liberties Union and the Southern Poverty Law Center filed the suit Sunday successful region Superior Court connected behalf of 4 Cobb County voters.

The suit says the Cobb County Election Board had failed to nonstop absentee ballots successful a timely manner to each voters whose applications for specified ballots had been accepted.

"The Cobb Board failed to timely nonstop absentee ballots, for instance, to astir 1,036 voters whose absentee ballot applications had been marked arsenic issued connected October 13, 2022, and October 22, 2022," the suit filed Sunday said.

"It is expected that ballots marked arsenic issued connected different dates were besides not timely processed oregon mailed," the suit said.

The suit said that without exigency enactment by a judge, "hundreds of Cobb County voters are connected the brink of disenfranchisement."

The suit asked a justice to bid the predetermination committee to overnight message absentee ballots to voters who had not already been mailed those ballots overnight, and widen the receipt deadline for each absentee ballots successful the people of voters covered by the suit.

"Absent relief, these voters volition apt not beryllium capable to enactment successful the November 8, 2022 wide predetermination contempt decently registering to vote, requesting their absentee ballot by the absentee ballot petition deadline, and often contacting the Cobb Board aggregate times connected their ain to find retired astir the presumption of their absentee ballot request," the suit said.

The Cobb County committee did not instantly respond to a petition for comment.

On Saturday, the committee issued a statement saying that it opened a probe into the ballots aft immoderate residents reported not receiving them.

Elections and Registration Director Janine Eveler blamed the concern connected what the connection called "human error, with caller unit not pursuing procedures connected 2 days to guarantee ballots were mailed."

Eveler told the board, "I americium atrocious that this bureau fto these voters down."

"Many of the absentee unit person been averaging 80 oregon much hours per week, and they are exhausted," she said. "Still, that is nary excuse for specified a captious error."

The committee said that "elections unit overnighted absentee ballots to 83 out-of-state addresses and included pre-paid overnight instrumentality envelopes."

"They had already overnighted ballots to 194 residents from that radical who had requested ballots," the connection said. "Records amusement different 271 residents successful that radical had canceled their ballot petition and voted during Advance Voting. The remaining 498 residents identified are urged to ballot successful idiosyncratic connected predetermination day."