A federal judge ruled Wednesday that Georgia counties have to count absentee ballots that are either missing or have an incorrect date of birth — a move that could prove instrumental to the close race for governor of the Peach State.
U.S. District Judge Steve Jones’ decision prevents Georgia from finalizing the election results until these votes are counted, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports.
Despite the good news for Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, who trails Republican candidate Brian Kemp, not all rejected ballots are to be reinstated, as Abrams sought in a lawsuit.
Jones’ ruling does not require counties to count absentee ballots with incorrect residence addresses. He also did not make Georgia counties accept provisional ballots cast by people in a different county than where they are registered.
“Plaintiffs have shown that they are entitled to preliminary injunctive relief as to the absentee ballot (date of birth) issue,” Jones wrote. “Plaintiffs have not shown that they are entitled to preliminary injunctive relief as to the absentee ballot (residence) issue and provisional ballot issues.”
In Georgia’s gubernatorial race, Brian Kemp leads with 50.27 percent of the vote and Abrams holds 48.79 percent, and says she will not concede to Kemp until all of the votes are counted. Abrams hopes to gain enough votes to trigger a recount or runoff.
It’s not clear whether Jones’ ruling will have any effect on the election results, especially since the office of Georgia’s Secretary of State already said on Monday that counties could accept absentee ballots missing a voter’s date of birth.
Kemp stepped down as Georgia’s secretary of state last week, removing himself from any duties related to the election — an issue which had stirred controversy.
