A federal appeals court has reinstated Georgia’s Election Day deadline for the receipt of mail-in ballots, staying a lower court ruling that had extended that deadline by three days for November’s general election.
U.S. District Judge Eleanor Ross on Aug. 31 issued a preliminary injunction ordering that absentee ballots that are postmarked by Election Day and arrive at county election offices by 7 p.m. three business days later be counted. But a three-judge panel of the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 2-1 on Friday to stay the injunction pending the outcome of the state's appeal of Ross' order.