Georgia Judge Dismisses GOP Effort to Halt Weekend Absentee Ballot Drop-Offs

Plaintiffs said the lack of poll watchers to observe the absentee ballot intake by local election officials compromised election integrity.

A worker at the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections processing absentee ballots at the State Farm Arena in Atlanta on Nov. 2, 2020. John Bazemore/AP Photo

A Georgia judge has dismissed a Republican lawsuit attempting to prevent counties from operating election offices over the weekend to accept hand-delivered absentee ballots.

The GOP plaintiffs argued that Fulton County’s decision to open the election offices on Nov. 2 and 3 where voters could hand-deliver absentee ballots directly to registrars was unsupported by state law and violated rules requiring that ballot boxes be locked after early voting, which ended Friday.