Cobb County Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill issued an order extending the acceptance date for absentee ballots for the December 6 runoff for voters who had absentee ballot requests accepted on or before November 26, 2022.

Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) had filed a legal action in Superior Court late last night requesting the extension.

According to the notice posted on the Cobb County website, “This was a consent order between the ACLU and Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration, citing a “confluence of deadlines,” including a holiday, a new state statute, and the Thanksgiving holiday that led to a delay in sending out some absentee ballots.”

The order allows voters who had an absentee ballot request accepted on or before November 26, 2022 to return those ballots to the elections office by December 9, 2022.

While the deadline for the ballot to be received has been extended, the postmark on the ballot has to be no later than the regular runoff day of December 6.

If a ballot has still not arrived at the voter’s home, the order allows the voter to use the Federal Write-in Absentee Ballot (FWAB) to submit a ballot to Cobb elections. Like the regular absentee ballot, the FWAB ballot will still have to be postmarked by December 6.

An FWAB can be downloaded at the following link: https://www.fvap.gov/uploads/FVAP/Forms/FWABwithOMBFinal.pdf

Cobb Elections has extended hours for people to return their absentee ballots before election day.  Voters may return ballots to the Cobb County Elections & Registration Main Office on the following dates:

• Saturday, December 3rd, from 10:00 a.m.- 5:00 p.m.
• Monday, December 5th, from 8:00 a.m.- 6:00 p.m.
• Tuesday, December 6th, from 7:00 a.m. – 7:00 p.m.

The main elections office is located at 995 Roswell St., NE, Marietta, GA 30060.  

Cobb County Board of Commissioners Chairwoman Lisa Cupid recorded a statement on the recent absentee ballot glitches which you can view below.