Tag: absentee ballots

Lawsuit on Fulton County Mail-In Ballots Still Underway, Ruling Anticipated Next Week

Corinne Murdock

A judgment allowing or prohibiting the inspection of Fulton County’s mail-in ballots may occur as early as next week. The plaintiffs, organized by the election integrity organization Voters Organized for Trusted Election Results in Georgia (VoterGA), have been engaged in litigation for nearly a month to obtain an inspection of those ballots.

VoterGA had anticipated receiving a ruling allowing them to inspect the county’s mail-in ballots during their last hearing on January 15. However, after three hours debating the county’s compliance with open records requests concerning the mail-in ballots, akin to Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) requirements, Chief Judge Brian Amero decided to only address that issue.

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Henry County Superior Court Judge Files Temporary Injunction on Fulton County Mail-In Ballots

Corinne Murdock

Chief Judge Brian Amero filed a temporary injunction ordering Fulton County to preserve their general election mail-in ballots. Plaintiffs in the case organized by Voters Organized for Trusted Election Results in Georgia (VoterGA) had hoped to obtain an order from this hearing allowing them to conduct a forensic inspection of the county’s mail-in ballots. The hearing took place virtually at 4 p.m. EST with Henry County Superior Court. Fulton County Elections Director Rick Barron was present on the line; the other election board members didn’t attend the hearing.

Attorneys from the Cheeley Law Group represented the plaintiffs. Their contentions concerned the events from State Farm Arena on November 3rd after 10:30 p.m. EST. Multiple reports noted that poll workers and media were informed that vote counting was finished for the night, and that they should leave. They requested to share the video evidence from that night with the court, but Amero declined.

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Questions Surrounding Administration of ‘Rollover’ Absentee Ballots in Fulton County Remain Unanswered Days Before Georgia U.S. Senate Runoff Elections

Peter D'Abrosca

Just days before the statewide U.S. Senate runoff in Georgia, confusion over obtaining absentee ballots remains. 

“Georgians who are over the age of 65, members of the military or are physically disabled have the option of receiving absentee ballots for an entire election cycle by submitting a single application,” Atlanta radio station WABE reported in November. 

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Nearly 50K Votes Cast by Voters in Runoff Election Who Didn’t Vote in General Election

Corinne Murdock

Reports from independent data analysts state that nearly 50,000 voters who didn’t vote in the general election have voted in the runoff election. The data culled from the Georgia Secretary of State’s office issued a stark contrast to the total number of votes cast in the runoff, which are currently lower overall than in the general election.

According to Georgia Votes, the 50,000 voters make up nearly 3 percent of the registered voters who didn’t vote in the presidential election. There are 21 percent less mail-in ballots than the general election, and a 5 percent increase of early votes. The site reflected that Monday marked five consecutive days of lower in-person voting turnout than the general election. Additionally, Democratic-leaning districts had stronger turnouts this past weekend than their Republican-leaning counterparts.

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DeKalb County Fails to Produce Drop Box Absentee Ballot Transfer Forms Required by State Election Board Emergency Rule

Laura Baigert

With the January 5 run-off election for two U.S. Senate seats underway and election practices in Georgia for the November 3 presidential election remaining under intense scrutiny, DeKalb County has failed to produce the drop box absentee ballot transfer forms that are required under a State Election Board emergency rule.

Absentee ballot transfer forms are a critical piece in the chain of custody for votes deposited into the approximately 300 drop boxes deployed throughout the state of Georgia for the November election.  DeKalb County, with its 34 drop box locations, accounted for more than 10 percent of Georgia’s absentee ballot drop boxes.

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Georgia Secretary of State and State Election Board Changed Absentee Ballot Signature Verification and Added Drop Boxes Without State Legislature’s Approval

Laura Baigert

As early in-person voting began Monday, December 14, for the general election run-off of two U.S. Senate seats in Georgia, significant changes for absentee ballot signature verification and drop boxes put into place by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and the State Election Board without the state legislature’s approval are still in place.

Meanwhile, registered voters “mailing” an absentee ballot for the general election run-off for the federal offices started more than three weeks ago on November 18, according to Georgia’s election calendar. 

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Georgia Secretary of State Launches Statewide Signature Match Audits

Corinne Murdock

Following a signature match audit for absentee ballots in Cobb County, Georgia will conduct a statewide audit. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced the decision on Monday. 

According to the secretary of state’s office, the audit will review “specific allegations” relating to inadequate signature matching on absentee ballot applications ahead of June’s primary elections. That audit will compare a sample of absentee ballot envelopes to signatures on file. 

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Investigation Finds Georgia Officials Decline to Prosecute or Correct the Double Voters They Catch

RealClearWire

More than 1,700 Georgians were singled out for illegally casting two ballots in 2020 elections – including last month’s hotly contested presidential race – but their fraudulent votes weren’t canceled out, according to state election officials. And so far, none of the cheaters has been prosecuted, raising concerns about continued fraud as Georgia prepares to vote again in twin U.S. Senate runoff elections next month.

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Fulton County, Georgia Dominion Voting Systems Technician Files Affidavit Alleging Absentee Ballot Irregularities, Potential Fraud

Corinne Murdock

A Fulton County voting technician stepped forward as another whistleblower, alleging severe mishandling of mail-in ballots. The Dominion Voting Systems (Dominion) certified technician, Bridget Thorne, swore in an affidavit that the ballots weren’t handled securely at State Farm Arena. 

Thorne stated that their testing and calibration process involved printing series of “test ballots” on actual ballot paper, making them “indistinguishable” from live ballots.

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Prominent Atlanta Pastor Michael Youssef Says He Received Three Mail-In Ballots for Adult Son Who Lives Overseas

Jason M. Reynolds

Dr. Michael A. Youssef, a prominent Arab-American pastor in Atlanta, posted on social media that three mail-in ballots were sent to his house for his adult son — who has lived overseas for decades.

Youssef is founder/pastor of The Church of the Apostles megachurch in the Buckhead neighborhood. He also runs Leading the Way, an international television and radio ministry that shares the gospel in 26 languages in six continents.

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Organization Founded by Stacey Abrams and Previously Chaired by Warnock Under Investigation for Voter Fraud

Corinne Murdock

Georgia’s secretary of state’s office is investigating the New Georgia Project for voter fraud connected to registering dead or out-of-state voters. The organization was founded by Stacey Abrams and chaired previously by Senate Democratic candidate Raphael Warnock.

In a press conference on Monday, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger confirmed that his office had received substantiated evidence of the organization’s involvement in voter fraud. Raffensperger’s office confirmed their evidence included the organization soliciting registration for a dead individual, an ineligible voter, a multiple residents of other states.

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New Georgia Lawsuit Claims Over 20K Ballots Were Cast by Voters Who Don’t Meet Residency Requirements

Corinne Murdock

A new lawsuit claimed that over 20,000 ballots were cast in Georgia by voters who don’t meet residency requirements. The suit included data analysis from the Voter Integrity Project (VIP) and an affidavit from the Census Bureau Deputy Director for Data Benjamin Overholt.

Democratic candidate Joe Biden leads President Donald Trump by over 12,600 votes – less than the number of votes that the lawsuit flagged as potentially fraudulent. 

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Trump Campaign Estimates 38K to 45K Illegal Absentee Ballots Cast in Georgia Election

Corinne Murdock

The Trump Campaign alleged that between 38,000 and over 45,000 illegal absentee ballot votes were cast in Georgia. According to their estimations, the campaign requested that Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger do a complete audit on the absentee ballot envelope signatures.

The letter marked the campaign’s fifth petition filed to Raffensperger.

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FBI Requests Voter Integrity Project Data on Absentee Ballots for Investigation

Corinne Murdock

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) has requested the Voter Integrity Project’s (VIP) findings indicating illegal ballots in Georgia and other contested states. VIP was started by Matt Braynard immediately following this most recent general election. VIP has claimed to discover significant evidence of voter fraud that would impact the election’s outcome.

Braynard is the Executive Director of Look Ahead America, a voting registration and informational nonprofit, and former Data Chief and Strategist for Trump for President.

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Voter Integrity Project Leader Matt Braynard to Submit Absentee Vote Findings to Georgia Case

Corinne Murdock

Evidence of voter fraud gathered by Voter Integrity Project (VIP) will be submitted to the Georgia lawsuit and four other contested states. VIP was started by Matt Braynard, the former Data Chief and Strategist for Trump for President, after widespread distrust in absentee ballots arose following the 2020 election results.

Braynard has stated in multiple interviews that VIP findings are enough to flip states.

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State Election Board Votes to Extend Drop Box Use and Mandate Early Processing for Absentee Ballots for Runoff Senate Election

Corinne Murdock

The Georgia State Election Board voted to extend the absentee ballot voting rules on the use of drop boxes and early processing. Leading up to the January 5 general election runoff, voters may continue to deliver their absentee ballots at drop boxes and officials must begin processing ballots at minimum a week before Election Day.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger chaired Monday’s meeting. The board gathered to discuss three emergency rules set to expire prior to the runoff election, though they opted to only address the first two on their agenda.

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Georgia Governor Sidelines Himself During Election Fallout

Corinne Murdock

In this contentious climate anticipating the 2020 election results and the senatorial election runoff, Governor Brian Kemp has avoided definitive statements on the election integrity in his state.

Kemp’s remarks concerning the election circumvented the muddier issues: scrutiny over the state’s use of Dominion Voting Systems, and the validity of the absentee ballots cast in this election.

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Pennsylvania Voters Describe Irregularities in Mail-in, Absentee Ballot Process

Admin

The U.S. saw record numbers of mail-in votes cast in the 2020 election, driven largely by voter concerns that crowded polling places and long lines could act as major spreading centers for COVID-19.

Activists and public officials in the months leading up to the Nov. 3 election launched major informational campaigns and voting drives to help as many people as possible vote via mail. A reported 65 million ballots were cast by mail in the 2020 election, far outstripping earlier years.

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Voter Integrity Project to Release Absentee Ballot Investigation Results by Friday

Corinne Murdock

The Voter Integrity Project intends to release its complete investigation results in the coming days, including a report on mass amounts of dead voters.

Voter Integrity Project is the brainchild of Look Ahead America Executive Director and former Trump for President Data Chief and Strategist Matt Braynard. He started the project to discover if there was evidence that would lead to legal remedy or reforms for this election, mainly through affidavits and death certificates. 

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Famed Attorney Lin Wood Blows the Doors off Alleged Georgia Vote Scam; Predicts New Election

Corinne Murdock

Attorney Lincoln “Lin” Wood Jr. stated that Georgia may undergo another election if his lawsuit succeeds.

Wood is best known for his work with high-profile clients such as Richard Jewell, JonBenet Ramsey’s parents, Gary Condit, and Kobe Bryant’s alleged victim. Most recently, Wood made headlines for defending teenagers Nicholas Sandmann and Jacob Blake.

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North Carolina Lawmakers Demand State Board of Elections Release Data on How Many Ballots are Outstanding

Jason M. Reynolds

North Carolina legislative leaders are demanding that the State Board of Elections release data on total outstanding ballots to provide transparency.

The co-chairs of the State Senate and House Elections Committees sent the demand in a letter Friday to Karen Brinson Bell, executive director of the North Carolina State Board of Elections, which is controlled by Democratic Gov. Roy Cooper. The announcement was made by N.C. Senate Leader Phil Berger.

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Michigan Secretary of State Spokesperson: Post Alleging 118-Year-Old Man Who Voted by Absentee Ballot Was Probably Just a Mistyped Entry

Corinne Murdock

Michigan Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson’s spokesperson stated that a viral post alleging that a 118-year-old man voted was true, but was probably due to a mistyped entry. Fact-checkers said that they discovered another individual with the same name in the area.

The post featured a screen recording: an individual typed in “William Bradley” into the state’s voter information page, followed by a birth date and zip code. Immediately, the search returned with Bradley’s city clerk information as well as a confirmation that an absentee ballot had been received.

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USPS Sweeps Discover Thousands of Absentee Ballots in Pennsylvania and North Carolina

Corinne Murdock

  After conducting internal sweeps, the United States Postal Service (USPS) discovered over 2,000 more mail-in ballots for Pennsylvania and North Carolina on Thursday. D.C. Federal District Judge Emmet Sullivan ordered twice-daily postal center sweeps after a reported 300,000 ballots were reported as undelivered. Workers accrued about 40,000 mail-in ballots altogether by Thursday – 150,000 were discovered Wednesday. Postal leaders confirmed that more mail-in ballots were processed on Wednesday than on Election Day. Workers discovered nearly 1,700 ballots for Pennsylvania, and about 500 for North Carolina. Friday’s final sweeps trickled in a handful more mail-in ballots. A week before the election, election experts warned voters to cease sending in mail-in ballots due to USPS delays. In September, the USPS sent out a recommendation to mail ballots at least one week prior to Election Day. It appears that a collective surge of voters mailing their ballots in last-minute caused the delay. Congressman Mike Kelly (R-PA-16), state Representative Joseph Hamm (R-Lycoming County), and four other plaintiffs sued Pennsylvania Secretary of State Kathy Boockvar. During an address just before Halloween, Boockvar said they’d “cure” rejected mail-in ballots with provisional ballots. The Republican plaintiffs argued that voters with rejected mail-in ballots shouldn’t have received provisional ballots on…

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Lynchburg Republican Party Loses Lawsuit Against Registrar’s Office Over Ballot Counting Practices

Corinne Murdock

The Lynchburg Republican Party lost in its lawsuit against the Lynchburg Registrar’s Office over ballot counting practices in this election. The two went to trial on Monday.
The lawsuit alleged that the registrar had failed one day to process absentee ballots with a Republican representative present, and had also failed to notify Republican representatives of preprocessing last Friday. The judge ruled in favor of the Lynchburg Registrar’s Office in under several hours.

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Minnesota Court Rules Absentee Ballots Must be Received by 8 p.m. on Election Day, Late Ones to be Separated

The Center Square

Absentee ballots received by 8 p.m. on Election Day must be separated from ballots received later in case of another order voiding those votes, a Minnesota Court of Appeals ruled.

In a 2-1 decision, the ruling didn’t determine the validity of the post-Election Day ballots but said the separation would allow for them to be “removed from vote totals in the event a final order is entered” finding the votes invalid.

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Virginia Dems Hit Panic Button, Sue Richmond Registrar

Jacob Taylor
people voting

Virginia Democrats filed suit against the Richmond General Registrar on Monday for not providing records of voters with invalid absentee ballots due to errors or omissions, preventing the party from notifying and assisting voters in curing their ballots before next Friday’s noon deadline.

A complaint was filed by attorneys for Susan Swecker, Chairwoman of the Democratic Party of Virginia (DPV), in Richmond Circuit Court, seeking injunctive relief and to petition for a Writ of Mandamus to make J. Kirk Showalter, Richmond’s registrar, comply with the records request.

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Appeals Court Rules North Carolina Absentee Ballots Postmarked By November 3 Are Valid If They Arrive Before November 12

Admin

The 4th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in favor of the North Carolina State Board of Elections on Tuesday, allowing it to count absentee ballots that arrive before Nov. 12 as long as they were postmarked by Nov. 3.

“All ballots must still be mailed on or before Election Day,” said Circuit Judge James Wynn in the court’s 12-3 ruling. “The change is simply an extension from three to nine days after Election Day for a timely ballot to be received and counted. That is all.”

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Lynchburg Registrar Accused of Counting Absentee Ballots Illegally Without Republicans Present

Corinne Murdock

The Republican Party of Virginia (RPV) and the Lynchburg Republican City Committee are accusing the Lynchburg Registrar’s Office of violating election laws by counting absentee ballots without Republicans present. Individuals who previously registered as Democrats for years assisted in counting ballots, this time registered as “non-party affiliation.”
65 of the “non-party affiliation” individuals were Democrats last year.

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Minneapolis and Hennepin County Absentee Ballot Boards Ignore Party Balance Law

Admin

It was not enough to allow the city to burn. Then it wasn’t enough to emasculate city law enforcement. Now the Minneapolis City Council is corrupting the absentee ballot count by stacking ballot boards with handpicked staff rather than following state law that requires regular ballot boards to include people from the major political parties. Hennepin County, the most populous in the state, is doing it, too.

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Ohio Elections Chief Okay’s Drop Boxes Inside, Outside Boards

The Associated Press

Ohio’s secretary of state adjusted his one-box-per-county restriction Monday to say counties may collect absentee ballots both at their buildings and at locations outside, an update to an order that has landed him in both state and federal court.

Republican Secretary of State Frank LaRose characterized his revised order as a “clarification” in a case that has highlighted the interest in access to ballot drop boxes amid coronavirus concerns, cuts at the U.S. Postal Service and President Donald Trump’s baseless assertions that mail-in voting is rigged.

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Trump Campaign Sues to Block Mail-in Expansions in North Carolina

Admin

President Donald Trump’s campaign and the Republican National Committee on Saturday filed suit to prevent North Carolina officials from adopting measures that would allow a greater number of absentee ballots to be counted in November.

The State Board of Elections said Tuesday that it would allow November ballots with incomplete information to be fixed without requiring the voter to redo their ballot, leading Republicans to file suit arguing that the system would lead to “fraud, coercion, theft, and otherwise illegitimate voting,” the Associated Press reported.

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State Board Meets Today to Decide if Ohio Secretary of State May Spend Up to $3M to Prepay Absentee Ballot Postage

Jason M. Reynolds

A state board is meeting today to decide if Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose can spend up to $3 million to pay for absentee ballot postage for the November elections.

The Ohio Controlling Board will consider LaRose’s request today. Their agenda is here, and more information about LaRose’s request is here.

This appropriation of state funds will be used by the Ohio Secretary of State to pay the cost of returning absentee ballots on behalf of any Ohio voter who opts to use that manner of voting in the November 3, 2020 General Election. This will not expand Ohio’s existing absentee voting opportunities and will not permit universal vote by mail. There will still be in-person voting at polling locations on Election Day, November 3, 2020. 

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In Battlegrounds, Absentee Ballot Rejections Could Triple

The Associated Press

Thousands of absentee ballots get rejected in every presidential election. This year, that problem could be much worse and potentially pivotal in hotly contested battleground states.

With the coronavirus creating a surge in mail-in balloting and postal delays reported across the country, the number of rejected ballots in November is projected to be significantly higher than previous elections.

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Virginia Republicans Wary of Proposals Facilitating Absentee Ballots

Eric Burk

Republican legislators in Virginia are sounding the alarm about risks with new provisions providing prepaid postage and drop boxes for absentee ballots. The provisions come as part of a budget amendment proposed by Governor Ralph Northam.

The amendment provides $2 million to create the ballot drop boxes and to pay postage so that voters do not have to pay to return their ballots. The General Assembly will consider the amendments sometime near the beginning of next week.

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Minnesota’s Absentee Ballots Move Closer to Becoming Mail-in Ballots

Admin

Ramsey County District Judge Sara Grewing has single-handedly overturned Minnesota election law by ruling on Aug. 3 that Minnesota’s absentee ballots no longer require the signature of a witness who is a registered voter or a notary public.

The judge also ruled that absentee ballots can be accepted after the election, as long as they are postmarked as of Election Day. Under the Minnesota law that the judge scrapped, absentee ballots had to be in by 8 p.m. on the night of the election. 

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State House Committee Denies Tennessee Voters The Ability To Register With a Political Party

Laura Baigert

NASHVILLE, Tennessee – A bill that would allow Tennessee voters the ability to register with either of the two major political parties or as unaffiliated failed in the House Local Committee. The effort, sponsored by Representative Tim Rudd (R-Murfreesboro) as HB 1398, was amended to eliminate requiring a party affiliation and eliminate closing the party primaries, as it was felt “having closed primaries would disenfranchise Independents and Democrats and Republicans who wanted to vote in each others’ primary,” according to Rudd as he presented the bill. A measure to actually close the primaries sponsored by Representative Andy Holt (R-Dresden) under HB 1273, in accordance with a December 2018 overwhelming vote by the State Executive Committee of the Tennessee Republican Party, failed in the same Committee late last month as The Tennessee Star reported. Representative Rudd made the point that, “The one group of people that are disenfranchised right now, both Democrat and Republican, are party members and activists that actually want to be registered.” Representative London Lamar (D-Memphis) questioned Representative Rudd, as she did with Representative Holt on his closed primary bill, as to whether he had consulted with both political parties in writing the bill. Rudd responded that he…

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