A federal judge upheld a Georgia law restricting voting organizations from mass-mailing absentee ballot applications as they did during the 2020 election.
The 50-page decision, handed down late Monday by U.S. District Judge J.P. Boulee, said the 2021 law was justified because voters were confused or suspected fraud when they received multiple absentee ballot applications ahead of a crucial presidential election.
The ruling arrives more than four years since Republican state legislators passed a broad election overhaul law in response to President Donald Trump’s narrow loss.
The law, Senate Bill 202, limited absentee voting after its widespread adoption during the COVID-19 pandemic when 25% of Georgia voters in the presidential election returned absentee ballots.
“Voters wondered why they were receiving so many applications. Other voters thought they were receiving actual ballots — not applications,” wrote Boulee, a Trump appointee. “Moreover, some voters who had already applied to vote absentee questioned whether there was a problem with their application since they received another application in the mail.”
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger praised the ruling, saying the law prevents “flooding voters with duplicate absentee ballot applications.”
“SB 202 is about common sense: Protecting voters from confusion, making sure every vote counts once, and keeping our elections free, fair and secure,” he said. “The fact that the law keeps winning in court shows that Georgia is leading the way for election integrity.”
The plaintiffs in the case were two organizations that mailed a total of 9.6 million absentee ballot applications to Georgia voters in the 2020 elections. About 550,000 voters responded to the mailings and received absentee ballots.
The organizations, the Voter Participation Center and the Center for Voter Information, argued that the law’s restrictions limited their First Amendment rights to freedom of speech.
The law prohibits groups from filling out voters’ names and addresses on absentee ballot application forms, and it bars them from mailing applications to voters who had already requested or returned absentee ballots.
Boulee agreed that the plaintiffs engaged in speech, but he ruled that the state of Georgia had “compelling governmental interests” in “reducing voter confusion, enhancing voter confidence and increasing electoral efficiency.”
The plaintiffs said the law’s restrictions undermine voter participation.
“The provisions in SB 202 are dangerous and will make it more difficult for Georgians to vote, especially those in the historically underrepresented communities that we serve — people of color, young people and unmarried women,” said Tom Lopach, president and CEO of the Voter Participation Center and Center for Voter Information. “In the context of increasing government overreach into our elections, the court’s decision to limit advocacy at the expense of the right to free speech is deeply concerning.”
The decision is the latest ruling that upholds Georgia’s voting law, which also limited ballot drop boxes, tightened absentee ballot deadlines, added steps to request an absentee ballot and allowed activists to challenge voter’s eligibility.
Boulee previously blocked part of the law that banned distributing food and drinks to voters waiting in lines that stretch more than 150 feet from a polling place.
The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals recently heard oral arguments last month over the food-and-water ban but hasn’t yet made a ruling.
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