State: Fulton County fumbled absentee ballots

A state investigation found that Fulton County may have caused 2,500 absentee voters to miss the election, according to a letter from Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel.

The letter, dated Oct. 31, accused Fulton County voter registration officials of failing to process absentee ballot requests and send out ballots in a timely manner.

“Approximately 100 [ballot applications] have been in your office for at least 10 days,” Handel said in the letter addressed to county interim elections director April Pye. “Approximately 50 applications have been rejected by Fulton County, but Fulton County has not notified the electors of the rejection.”

Pye could not be reached by phone for comment Thursday, and county election supervisor Brenda Williams did not return calls to her office.

County spokesman Bob Giordano declined to comment Thursday evening.

County Commissioner Lynne Riley, who represents North Fulton communities like Sandy Springs and Milton, said she received calls from some voters complaining that they didn’t receive their absentee ballots until Election Day, Nov. 4 — and they came by expensive overnight delivery.

“This was obviously a case of poor customer service,” Riley said. “It made it impossible for people to even vote.”

Absentee applications are to be processed within two days of receipt, and ballots immediately sent out to eligible voters, according to state election laws.

Handel’s letter ordered Fulton election officials to send ballots by overnight delivery to all appropriate voters. Also, she said, “Your mailing should include a prepaid overnight delivery mailer for the voter to use to timely return the ballot.”

Handel spokesman Matt Carrothers said the Secretary of State’s inspector general was investigating several Fulton election problems, “including the [late] tabulation of ballots, and the issuing of absentee ballots.” Fulton did not finish counting ballots until early Saturday, four days after the election.

Carrothers said the State Election Board could levy sanctions that could include fines on Fulton.

Riley said, “The [Fulton] Department of Registration and Elections represented to us that they were ready for this election…. That obviously was not the case.”