JUSTICE DEPARTMENT FILES SUIT AGAINST GEORGIA TO ENFORCE RIGHTS OF OVERSEAS MILITARY AND CIVILIAN CITIZENS TO VOTE IN JULY 20 PRIMARY

WASHINGTON, D.C. - The Justice Department today announced the filing of a lawsuit seeking an emergency order requiring Georgia election officials to take steps to ensure that qualified overseas voters have an opportunity to participate in the July 20 primary election for the United States Senate and members of Congress. The government’s complaint alleges that numerous counties failed to mail requested absentee ballots to Georgia citizens living overseas in sufficient time for them to vote in the upcoming primary.

"This suit seeks to ensure that Georgia voters overseas, many of whom are members of our armed forces, will have a full opportunity to vote," said R. Alexander Acosta, Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights. “Especially at a time when so many of our men and women are courageously serving their country in combat, it is critical that we vigorously enforce the voting rights of all Americans.”

The lawsuit, filed in federal court in Atlanta, also seeks to protect the voting rights of Americans overseas in the primary runoff election. If a runoff is required, it will occur August 10. The federal Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act (UOCAVA) requires states to allow uniformed services voters and other overseas citizens to register to vote and vote absentee for all elections for federal office.

The Justice Department asked the court to order a 14-day extension of the state deadline for receipt of overseas ballots; to allow voters to return ballots by fax and express mail, at no expense to the voters; and to allow voters to utilize a special federal write-in ballot if they do not receive their state absentee ballots. These ballots are widely available at military bases and embassies around the world and are authorized by the UOCAVA as a "back-up" ballot if voters do not receive their ballots for federal general elections on time. The Justice Department also asks the court to order the state to undertake immediate and effective publicity of the relief so that overseas voters will learn of their options for voting.

More information about the Uniformed and Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act and other federal voting laws is available on the Department of Justice website, www.usdoj.gov. Complaints about discriminatory voting practices may be called in to the Voting Section of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division at 1-800-253-3931.

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