COBB COUNTY, Ga. — Some voters in Cobb County say they haven’t received their absentee ballot.
The Cobb County Board of Elections director says all of the absentee ballots that were requested were mailed, but the Thanksgiving holiday could cause some delays on the receiving end.
“There were ballots that we issued on the 23rd that people were expecting to receive on Friday or Saturday but those ballots were issued the day before Thanksgiving, so the county was closed on Thanksgiving and the day after. On Saturday, we started running that report for the 23rd and packing those ballots, so those didn’t actually go out until Monday and maybe some even held over until Tuesday. That’s quite a delay caused by the holiday when we aren’t working,” said Janine Eveler, Cobb County Board of Elections Director.
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“We got the application, but the ballots never came. It’s your right to vote and we’d like to exercise those rights,” said Kandis Lang, who lives in Marietta.
Lang and her mother say they requested absentee ballots on Nov. 18.
“We will wait and if they don’t come in, I’ll at least go myself,” said Lang.
Mary Bryant-Mason lives in Marietta, but is staying in Florida temporarily.
“I am angry already. I’m angry that it has not gotten to me by now. Basically there are no options other than for me to drive there, and I can’t. I have COVID,” said Bryant-Mason.
Bryant-Mason said she spoke with the board of elections office after our interview, and they told her they would overnight mail her ballot.
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“If they are out of state they don’t have as many options, but UPS or FedEx overnighting it to us is certainly one of them. We will have some extra open time here at our main office for them to bring the ballot to us if they are in Cobb County or somewhere near in Georgia. We’re going to be open on Saturday, the upcoming Saturday to receive ballots here in our office, which normally would not be an open day. We’re going to open a little bit longer in the evening on Monday, we are going to be open until 6 p.m. instead of closing at 5. People can bring it from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. on election day to our main office.” said Eveler.
Election officials say the holiday isn’t all they are up against.
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“A four-week turn around from a general election to a general runoff is an almost impossible task. It takes a long time to get the ballots out; to create the ballots, to print the ballot,” said Eveler.
“It shouldn’t be on the voters that we miss out on voting because our lawmakers made the choice of making this happen on a really short timeframe. I feel sorry for the election people,” said Bryant-Mason.
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