A federal judge in Savannah blasted Republican attorneys Tuesday for bringing what he called a factually and legally deficient lawsuit that sought to prevent Democratic-leaning counties from counting absentee ballots delivered in recent days.
The Republican National Committee and the Georgia Republican Party sought a restraining order to prevent the counting of ballots received Saturday through Monday in Athens-Clarke, Chatham, Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton and Gwinnett counties. The lawsuit said state law prohibits Georgians from delivering their ballots in person to local election offices after the close of advance in-person voting Friday. After that, the GOP says voters can only deliver their ballots on Election Day.
Following a hearing Tuesday, Chief Judge R. Stan Baker of the Southern District of Georgia rejected the request and spent half an hour listing the reasons the claim is wrong. But he went further, chastising the GOP’s lawyers — Alex Kaufman of Alpharetta and Mark Bandy of Savannah — who brought the case.
“It’s dangerous when a nonlawyer makes claims that are factually and legally incorrect about the right to vote,” Baker said. “But for lawyers it’s more dangerous.”…
In his oral ruling, the judge said Georgia law clearly allows voters to deliver their absentee ballots in person until polls close on Election Day. He noted that counties have been opening on weekends to accept ballots for years. And he said the lawsuit conflated rules for early in-person voting — which ended Friday — with rules for absentee ballots.
Baker said the Republican interpretation of Georgia law does not meet “even the most basic level of statutory review and reading comprehension.” And he noted the lawsuit targeted only Democratic-leaning counties — not counties such as Republican-leaning Walton that also accepted ballots over the weekend.
If he were to grant the Republican request, Baker said he would be depriving the people who returned their ballots Saturday through Monday of their right to vote — but only in “cherry picked” Democratic counties.
He even suggested such a ruling would violate his oath to administer justice fairly.
Baker said people in the political arena often play “fast and loose with the facts,” but he said the justice system demands that lawyers refrain from such behavior….