A push by Republicans in Georgia to scrap absentee drop boxes currently being used in early voting in the state's twin Senate runoff elections was shot down on Thursday.
A federal judge in the United States District Court for the Southern District of Georgia, which is situated in Augusta, dismissed the case brought by the 12th Congressional District Republican Committee. The judge said that the plaintiffs had no standing and that courts shouldn’t change election rules so close to an election.
SURGE IN EARLY VOTING IN GEORGIA'S SENATE RUNOFF ELECTIONS
The two Senate runoff elections, which will be held on Jan. 5, will determine if the Republicans keep their majority in the Senate, or if the Democrats narrowly control both houses of Congress as well as the White House.
Early absentee voting has been underway for a couple of weeks in Georgia in the two contests, and early in-person voting at polling stations kicked off on Monday. More than 900,000 people have already voted in the twin elections, according to the latest data from the state, with 427,000 of those votes being cast by absentee ballots.
The dismissed suit contended that procedures used to process absentee ballots during last month’s general election – such as signature matching and ballot drop boxes – could allow for massive fraud in the runoff contests.
The suit also asked that local election officials be prohibited from opening ballot envelopes before Election Day. And it also aimed to invalidate guidance from the Secretary of State’s Office on the proper way officials needed to verify signatures on absentee ballots.