A group of civil rights organizations have filed an emergency lawsuit against the Gwinnett County Board of Registrations and Elections over concerns that an absentee ballot issue may deny some residents their right to vote.
The lawsuit, filed on Friday by groups that include the Southern Poverty Law Center, the ACLU of Georgia, and the Legal Defense Fund, argue that nearly 2,000 may not be able to cast their ballot due to delays by an out-of-state vendor.
The emergency lawsuit alleges that the New York-based Fort Orange Press, which is used by Gwinnett, Cobb, and DeKalb County, issued ballots that have not arrived for more than 1,800 lawfully-registered voters in the county.
In one case, attorneys say a student who lives in Gwinnett County and studies in New York, filed a request for an absentee ballot on Oct. 9. While his application was accepted and a ballot was issued the same day, he had not received it as of Thursday.
"It is unacceptable that voters are experiencing delays of this scale when voting by absentee," SPLC's Deputy Legal Director Bradley Heard said in a statement. "Absentee voting is an invaluable mechanism for voters who may otherwise be unable to cast their ballot. Gwinnett County voters, particularly voters of color, will not be deterred from having their voices heard this election, and we will do everything in our power to get their ballots counted."
The organizations estimate that nearly 10,000 voters across the metro Atlanta area may be affected by the alleged delays.
"No voter should lose their voice because an absentee ballot they requested never made it to their mailbox," said ACLU Voting Rights Project attorney Will Hughes. "With Election Day just days away, Gwinnett County voters deserve immediate action to ensure they have a meaningful opportunity to cast their ballots and have them counted. We're asking the court to step in because protecting the right to vote means making sure every eligible voter can actually exercise it."
The lawsuit is asking Gwinnett County election officials to notify any potentially impacted voters, send absentee ballots by overnight mail, and accept any ballots of those affected voters by Nov. 6, as long as they are postmarked by Nov. 3.
A similar lawsuit was filed in Cobb County over absentee ballot delays earlier this week. While attorneys representing the Cobb County Board of Elections and Registrations acknowledged that there were some delays, they disagreed with the scope of the lawsuit.
Attorneys say anyone in Cobb County experiencing the problem should call the Cobb Elections Department at 770-528-2581 or email abm@cobbcounty.gov and report their ballots as undelivered.
CBS News Atlanta has reached out to Gwinnett County election officials for comment on the lawsuit and will update this story if they respond.
