Four Democrat-led counties in Georgia extended the in-person drop-off hours for absentee ballots this weekend. But some local Republican leaders expressed frustration with the abrupt change, telling The Federalist they were never directly informed about the last-minute changes and as a result these drop-off locations were unsupervised by GOP observers for hours.
Fulton County announced Friday that “four election offices around Fulton County will be opened throughout the weekend to accommodate voters seeking to hand-return their absentee ballots.” The origin of the guidance is unclear, but Fulton County Republican Party Chairwoman Stephanie Endres told The Federalist the guidance came from Fulton County Director of Registration and Elections Nadine Williams. The Federalist has reached out to Williams but received no response as of publication.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a post on X that state law permits election officials to “receive absentee ballots in person at [government] facilities if the county chooses.”
But in a subsequent X post, Raffensperger said he was “concerned” that there were issues in Fulton County allowing monitors to observe the process, and RNC Chairman Michael Whatley complained of poll watchers being denied access to these ballot drop-off locations.
Endres told The Federalist that she was not directly notified in advance about the extension, inhibiting her ability to adequately staff the four locations with observers to oversee the process.
“People are slowly getting to these places and trying to see if they can get access,” Endres told The Federalist. “While I was in
