The Independent View: Federal Court Orders Gwinett County GA to Accept Absentee Ballots with Omitted or Incorrect Birth Year

In the U.S. District Court for The Northern District of Georgia Atlanta Division, Case 1:18-cv-04776-LMM, this Case comes before the Court on Plaintiffs Rhonda J. Martin, Dana Bowers, Jasmine Clark, Smythe DuVal, Jeanne Dufort, and the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, Inc.'s Motion and Amended Motion for Emergency
Temporary Restraining Order and potential Intervenors Carolyn Bourdeaux for Congress and Fazal Khan's Motion to Intervene and proposed Emergency Motion for Temporary Restraining Order, for Not Counting Absentee Ballots with Date Problems.

Although these Motions come before the Court in the midst of many Hotly Contested and Highly Publicized Elections issues across the State, the Narrow Relief Granted by this Order addresses One Precise Question: Does Gwinnett County's Process of Rejecting Absentee Ballots solely on the basis of an Omitted or Incorrect Birth Year Violate the Civil Rights Act, 52 U.S.C. § 10101(a)(2)(B).

The Court finds, on the Arguments presented, that it Does and that this Narrow Set of Ballots should be Counted. This Decision is Not based on Evaluating Potential Harm to any Individual Candidate. Instead, it is focused on the Right of Individuals to have their Votes Counted.

Court's Decision:

Intervenors Carolyn Bourdeaux for Congress and Fazal Khan's Motion to Intervene is Granted. Intervenors' Emergency Motion for Temporary Restraining Order is Granted as to the Birth Year Issues and Denied as to the Remaining Requests for Relief. The Clerk is Directed to Docket the Complaint in Intervention. Plaintiffs Rhonda J. Martin, Dana Bowers, Jasmine Clark, Smythe Duval, Jeanne Dufort, and the Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, Inc.'s Motion and Amended Motion for Emergency Temporary Restraining Order is Granted as to the Birth Year Issue and Denied as to the Remaining Requests for Relief. Defendants Stephen Day, John Mangano, Alice O'Lenick, Ben
Satterfield, and Beauty Baldwin, the Gwinnett County BORE Members, are hereby Enjoined rom Rejecting Absentee Ballots containing an Error or Omission relating to the Absentee Voter's Year of Birth and are Ordered to Count such Ballots in the November 6th, 2018 Election.

Defendants are Ordered to Delay Certification until such Ballots have been Counted.

Nothing in this Order Affects or otherwise Extinguishes this Court's Prior Injunction related to Signature Matching.

IT IS SO ORDERED this 13th day of November, 2018.