Court Tosses Out GOP Suit to Reject Absentee Ballots in Georgia

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Last updated on January 18th, 2021 at 03:25 am

The Republican Party’s attempt to have courts reject absentee ballots in the state of Georgia failed after the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals denied a lawsuit to change “how election officials check absentee ballot signatures,” according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“A three-judge panel ruled unanimously Sunday against the lawsuit brought by the political campaigns of Republican U.S. Sens. Kelly Loeffler and David Perdue, as well as the Georgia Republican Party and the National Republican Senatorial Committee,” the outlet reported earlier this morning.

“Since the secretary and the election board do not conduct the signature matching process, are not the election officials that review the voter’s signature, and do not control whether the signature matching process can be observed, the campaigns’ alleged injury is not traceable to the secretary,” wrote Judges Charles Wilson, Beverly Martin and Robert Luck.

President Donald Trump has often claimed without evidence that Georgia election officials are unable to verify signatures on absentee ballots as part of his push to cast doubt on the legitimacy of an election that he lost.

Trump‘s claim is incorrect. The Associated Press already conducted a fact check that showed “There is nothing in the consent decree that prevents Georgia election clerks from scrutinizing signatures.”

“The legal settlement signed in March addresses accusations about a lack of statewide standards for judging signatures on absentee ballot envelopes,” the AP continues, noting that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, has said that verifying signatures is both possible and required by the state.