Halsey Knapp and Adam Sparks returned to federal court and secured immediate relief for absentee voters seeking to cast a ballot in Georgia’s December 4, 2018 Runoff Election. The intense interest in Georgia’s 2018 General Election led to intense scrutiny of state and county election administration. That scrutiny bled into the mailing of absentee ballots for Georgia’s runoff elections for two statewide positions. The Georgia Secretary of State quickly finalized and provided the final runoff ballot to county elections officials after certifying General Election results. Even so, some counties delayed issuing and mailing absentee ballots to voters who had requested them for a week or more after the ballot was finalized.
Within hours of securing evidence of the extent of this problem Krevolin & Horst filed Democratic Party of Georgia, Inc. v. Crittenden, No. 1:18-cv-5443-AT. The complaint alleged unconstitutional disenfranchisement of absentee voters, while the motion demanded narrow, immediate relief: that absentee voters whose ballots were postmarked by the runoff election day and received by county elections officials within three days thereafter would have their votes counted, just as military and overseas voters do. Within a day of filing suit, Krevolin & Horst and counsel for the Secretary of State filed a consent order approved by the Court (linked below) granting full relief.