JUSTICE DEPARTMENT SECURES INJUNCTION PROTECTING RIGHTS OF OVERSEAS CITIZENS TO VOTE IN JULY 20TH FEDERAL PRIMARY ELECTION IN GEORGIA

WASHINGTON, D.C. - A federal court in Atlanta entered an order today granting the Justice Department's request for emergency relief to ensure overseas uniformed and civilian voters can vote in Georgia's July 20 federal primary election.

“We are very pleased that the court took such prompt action on this matter,” said R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Rights Division. “As a result, the rights of Georgians overseas, particularly those serving in and protecting democracy with the armed forces are more secure. We will continue to protect vigorously the rights of all voters to equal and open ballot access.”

The Department filed suit on July 13 after election officials in many Georgia counties failed to mail requested absentee ballots to citizens living overseas with sufficient time to allow them to vote in the July 20 federal primary election, as required by the federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act ("UOCAVA"). After an emergency hearing in Atlanta on July 14, the court announced it would require immediate steps to ensure that qualified overseas voters have a reasonable opportunity to vote.

Judge Pannell's order, signed Thursday evening, extends the deadline by which qualified overseas ballots may be accepted from July 20 to July 23. It permits overseas voters to receive and return their ballots by fax, electronic mail, or express mail at the state's expense. It permits voters to use a federal write-in absentee ballot if they do not receive their state absentee ballot in time. Federal write-in ballots are widely available at military bases and embassies around the world. The federal write-in ballot is authorized by the UOCAVA as a "back-up" ballot if voters do not receive their state ballots for federal general elections on time. The court also ordered that voters whose ballots were sent out after July 23 be personally notified of the order.

The order extends the same emergency voting opportunities to any runoff that may be necessary. Were a federal primary runoff necessary, it would occur August 10, leaving insufficient time for overseas voters to participate by regular mail. Also, an order was entered simultaneously today in the state's 2003 redistricting lawsuit extending the same relief to overseas voters who wish to vote for state offices in the July 20 or August 10 elections.

UOCAVA requires states to allow uniformed services voters and other overseas citizens to register to vote and vote absentee for all elections for federal office. The Justice Department has brought numerous federal lawsuits under the UOCAVA to ensure that overseas voters are not deprived of an opportunity to vote due to late mailing of absentee ballots by election officials. The Department recently obtained an emergency order in Pennsylvania extending the deadline for return of absentee ballots in Pennsylvania's April 27 primary election, and worked with state and local officials in Alabama to remedy a problem caused by a county's late mailing of absentee ballots for the June 1 primary election.

More information about the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act and other federal voting laws is available on the Department of Justice website, www.usdoj.gov. Complaints about discriminatory voting practices may be called in to the Voting Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.

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