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Appeals court rejects demand for free postage on Georgia absentee ballots

A three-judge panel gave its stamp of approval to the Peach State’s practice of making voters pay for their own postage for mail-in ballots.

ATLANTA (CN) — Georgia’s practice of requiring voters to pay for postage when they choose to return their absentee ballots by mail is not an unconstitutional poll tax, the 11th Circuit ruled Friday. 

“We hold that the fact that absentee voters in Georgia who decide to vote by mail must pay their own postage is not a 'tax' or unconstitutional fee on voting,” U.S. Circuit Judge  Elizabeth Branch wrote in a 15-page opinion.

Individual voters and voting rights group Black Voters Matter brought a class action against Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and DeKalb County election officials last April. 

They argued that the 24th Amendment and the equal protection clause of the 14th Amendment require the state to provide prepaid postage for absentee applications and mail-in ballots, because the amendments prohibit the implementation of a poll tax.

Especially during the coronavirus-laden year of 2020, the challengers contended, extra costs for remote voting options are an “unconstitutional burden” on the right to vote. 

But the state countered that these claims are defeated by the U.S. Postal Service’s policy of delivering absentee ballots whether or not they have insufficient postage.

The advocates lost their bid last August when U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg tossed out the lawsuit. 

On appeal, the 11th Circuit affirmed the dismissal of the case Friday.

“The novel theory that plaintiffs ask us to adopt—that Georgia imposes a 'tax' by not paying for a service (postage) to assist voters who choose to vote through the absentee process and then choose to return their ballot by mail— simply does not hold water,” wrote Branch, a Donald Trump appointee.

The Atlanta-based appeals court found that paying for postage on a mail-in ballot is not considered a tax, in part because the stamp money is paid to the Postal Service rather than to the state. Mail-in voters are paying for a service when purchasing postage, the panel said.

“Georgia voters, without paying any money, have the option to vote in person, bring their absentee ballot to the county election office, or drop their ballot in a county drop box,” Branch wrote.

During oral arguments earlier this month, an attorney for Black Voters Matter asked the judges to refer back to a 2020 decision by the 11th Circuit in Jones v. Governor of Florida.

Sean Young, legal director for the ACLU of Georgia, had argued that the Jones decision established the definition of a tax as “any government monetary extraction that is not a penalty.” 

But Branch said Friday the representation that any payment a citizen makes to the government must be either a penalty or a tax is “ demonstrably false.”

“While the cost of postage 'is not a ‘penalty’ to punish unlawful behavior,' that by no means automatically renders it a tax. The plaintiffs’ misquote of Jones is not only incorrect and disingenuous—it is completely illogical,” she wrote.

Branch was joined on the unanimous panel by U.S. Circuit Judge Britt Grant, a fellow Trump appointee, and Senior U.S. Circuit Judge Ed Carnes, appointed by George H.W. Bush. 

A spokesperson for Black Voters Matter could not be immediately reached for comment. 

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Categories / Appeals, Government, Politics, Regional

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