Georgia Election Day Deadline for Absentee Ballots Is Reinstated

(Bloomberg) -- Georgia's Election Day deadline for absentee ballots was reinstated by a federal appeals court, overturning a judge who had extended it by three days.

The Atlanta-based Court of Appeals, by a 2-1 vote, said it's up to the state to set its own deadlines.

“The Constitution sets out our sphere of decision making, and that sphere does not extend to second-guessing and interfering with a state's reasonable, nondiscriminatory election rules,” the court said.

The two judges overturning the extended deadline were appointed by President Donald Trump; the dissenting judge is a Bill Clinton appointee.

The court rejected the claim that the deadline for absentee ballots at 7 p.m. on Election Day severely burdened the right to vote. The lower-court judge said the high demand for absentee ballots because of the Covid-19 pandemic could lead to a backlog and the possibility that voters wouldn't receive their ballot in time.

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