More than 1,000 voters in Cobb County who requested mail-in ballots did not receive them before election day. | League of Women Voters of California/Wikimedia Commons
More than 1,000 voters in Cobb County who requested mail-in ballots did not receive them before election day. | League of Women Voters of California/Wikimedia Commons
Cobb County election officials are probing why more than 1,000 requested absentee ballots were never mailed out to voters.
This comes as Fox 5 Atlanta reports that Elections and Registrations Director Janine Eveler said new staff made an error by not following procedures, leaving 1,046 ballots requests unfulfilled.
"I am sorry that this office let these voters down," Eveler said in a message to the Board of Elections and Registration. "Many of the absentee staff have been averaging 80 or more hours per week, and they are exhausted. Still, that is no excuse for such a critical error."
The county's board of elections chair said Georgia's 2021 election reforms contributed to issues with fulfilling absentee ballot requests, with Board of Elections Chair Tori Silas saying, "I am very disappointed that we have placed these voters in a position where they may not have an opportunity to cast their ballots in this general election."
Cobb County voter Diane Norris told Fox 5 Atlanta she and her husband were among those who requested vote-by-mail ballots that never arrived.
"One vote can make a difference," Norris said. "So, yeah, when these ballots didn’t come in, both my husband and I were concerned."
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