Georgia officials told to continue with normal absentee ballot procedures

As President Donald Trump’s administration moves forward with plans to overhaul mail-in balloting, the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office is advising county election officials to continue existing procedures for absentee voting.

“We recognize that the ongoing litigation may create uncertainty, but we encourage counties to remain focused on current election preparations and not allow speculation about potential future changes to disrupt existing processes,” according to a memo sent to county officials last week. “Our office will continue monitoring developments and will provide clear guidance if any change becomes necessary.”

It comes amid a fight over the U.S. Postal Service’s plans to carry out an executive order signed by Trump seeking to change procedures for voting by mail. Such plans have temporarily been blocked by a federal judge, although litigation over the merits of the rule will continue and is expected to reach the U.S. Supreme Court before the midterms.

A whistleblower report, published by U.S. Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., claimed that the agency has moved forward with a rushed, untested and error-prone system that could lead to mass voter disenfranchisement, despite a court order barring the administration’s plans. Election experts and officials say such plans would create new administrative challenges and be infeasible to implement for the general election.

Georgia election officials face looming deadlines to begin sending ballots. Officials start sending military and overseas ballots Sept. 15, as well as absentee ballots beginning Oct. 5.

Meanwhile, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office received a subpoena Tuesday from the U.S. Department of Homeland Security seeking voting records for 13 voters, state officials said.

The subpoena, issued by a criminal investigator and obtained by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, shows Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations demanded records, including voter history files, identities of voters and citizenship documents.

Gabriel Sterling, the director of special projects at the secretary’s office, said the office has not yet turned over the records but intends to do so. Raffensperger’s office did not disclose the identities of the targeted voters.