A judge in Georgia on Saturday dismissed a Republican lawsuit that sought to block voters from hand-returning mail-in ballots in the state over the weekend.
The lawsuit centered around officials in Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold, opening normally closed country offices on Saturday and Sunday to allow voters to hand in their ballots.
Five other Democratic-leaning counties in the state also announced that county offices would be open over the weekend.
Early voting in Georgia ended on Friday and the lawsuit, filed Friday night, cited a section of state law that says ballot drop boxes cannot be open past the end of advance voting.
HARRIS TEARS INTO TRUMP, PRAISES GEN Z IN CLOSING ARGUMENT TO GEORGIA VOTERS
A worker at the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections works to process absentee ballots at the State Farm Arena, Saturday, in Atlanta. (AP Photo/John Bazemore, File)
But state law also states that voters can hand in mail ballots until the polls close on Tuesday night.
GEORGIA’S NEARLY 4 MILLION EARLY VOTES BODES WELL FOR TRUMP, TOP STATE REPUBLICAN SAYS
GOP lawyer Alex Kaufman argued in a Saturday emergency hearing that while it’s OK to mail absentee ballots, they shouldn’t be hand-delivered after early voting ends, but Fulton County Superior Court Judge Kevin Farmer rejected all of his arguments.
Vice President Kamala Harris holds a rally in Savannah, Georgia, in August. ( Win McNamee/Getty Images)
Former President Trump in Savannah, Georgia, in September. ( Brandon Bell/Getty Images)
“I find that it is not a violation of those two code sections for a voter to hand-return their absentee ballots,” Farmer said.
A Fulton County spokesperson said on Saturday afternoon that only a couple dozen ballots had been returned to the four open county offices.
An early voting center in Atlanta. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
Former President Trump narrowly lost Georgia, a usually reliably Republican state, to President Biden by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020, and afterward Trump made unsubstantiated accusations of fraud in Fulton County.
Both Trump and Vice President Kamala Harris have been actively campaigning in the state, now considered a battleground.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Things like your name, home address, date of birth and even your Social Security number…
Most people never think about Android security updates until a headline like this appears. Suddenly,…
The next time you pull up to the drive-thru at Burger King, you may notice…
You may think you can spot a crypto scam from a mile away. But what…
The first Tesla Cybercab has officially rolled off the floor at Tesla Gigafactory Texas. And…
Smart glasses promise a future where technology blends into everyday life. You can ask a…