Federal lawsuit filed against Gwinnett over early voting dates

The group is seeking a temporary retraining order to block the county from using a plan laid out in Gwinnett’s 2020 budget where it would only have early voting at the county’s elections headquarters during the first week of early voting.

The county’s elections board had asked for early voting to take place at the seven satellite locations during that first week as well when it submitted its budget request to county officials last year.

“Voters in Gwinnett County have historically been forced to endure long wait times to cast their ballots in elections,” Lawyers’ Committee Executive Director Kristen Clarke said. “This is yet another attempt at voter suppression, which is a direct violation of the constitutional rights. With the March 2020 primary election looming, it is imperative that Gwinnett County and other Georgia counties comply with the U.S. Constitution and permit all eligible voters to cast their ballot and have their voice heard.”

Lawyers Group officials said a hearing will be held before District Court Judge Steven Grimberg at 2 p.m. Monday at the federal courthouse in Atlanta.

The election board submitted its budget request for three full weeks of early voting for the presidential preference primary last summer. Department heads presented those budget requests to a citizens budget review committee and Gwinnett County commission Chairwoman Charlotte Nash in late August.

The proposed 2020 budget was then presented to other county commissioners and the public in mid-November and put input was solicited at that time so residents could weigh in on the proposal. The county commission then voted on adoption of the budget at its first meeting of the year in January.

It included $11 million for this year’s elections, which county officials have previously said is the largest amount of money Gwinnett has ever allocated for elections.

But, the Lawyers Committee asserted the county pared back the elections board’s request for three full weeks at all sites with “little fanfare” and that the decision to do so violated the U.S. Constitution.

Under the plan adopted as part of the county’s budget, there will be 19 consecutive days of early voting, including two Saturdays and two Sundays, but the first Monday through Sunday will be at the headquarters on Grayson Highway only.

“Gwinnett County’s plan means that history is likely going to repeat itself,” the Lawyers Committee said in a statement. “During the 2016 and 2018 election cycles, Gwinnett County had only one voting location at the start of the early voting period, which resulted in extraordinarily long lines.

“In 2016, hundreds of voters were forced to wait up to four to five hours to cast their ballot, while dozens of others left the line without ever voting. Three voters collapsed while waiting outside in extreme weather conditions. Voters also saw delays of more than an hour and fifteen minutes during the early voting period leading up to the November 2018 general midterm elections.”

Gwinnett County does plan to have three weeks of early voting at the elections headquarters and all satellite sites for the general election in November — if the county, which is under a federal mandate to provide bilingual assistance in English and Spanish, can recruit enough poll workers to man all of the sites.

County spokesman Joe Sorenson declined to comment on the lawsuit because it is pending litigation.