The orders, issued by federal judge Charles A. Pannell, Jr. in response

to motions made separately by Georgia Secretary of State Cathy Cox and the

U.S. Department of Justice, authorize Georgia election officials to extend

submitted by overseas voters who applied for an absentee ballot on or before

June 21. Special procedures for expedited delivery and an extension of the

counting period for such ballots are also authorized for the Aug. 10 primary

runoff.

Cox, who serves as the state's chief election official, and the Department

of Justice had sought relief from the court to address problems created by

delays that occurred in some Georgia counties in the printing and mailing

of absentee ballots to overseas voters. A federal law, the Uniformed and

Overseas Citizens Absentee Voting Act, includes provisions designed to guarantee

that military and civilian citizens residing overseas have an opportunity

to cast a valid ballot in elections that include federal candidates, if the

voter makes a request for an absentee ballot within 30 days of an election.

Under Georgia law, absentee ballots are prepared, mailed, received and tabulated

"I am extremely pleased that the federal court has given us authority

to take special measures that can help assure that every overseas Georgia

voter has an adequate opportunity to cast a vote in the upcoming primary

and primary runoff," said Cox. "Because of delays caused in part

reapportion legislative districts in March, and by operational issues that

delayed the printing of some counties' ballots, not all of our counties

sent ballots out in time to comply with federal standards.

"These new court-authorized measures, including delivery by fax and

courier as well as a three-day extension of vote counting for this group

of voters, will help us assure that Georgians residing overseas, including

our men and women in uniform across the globe, will have a full opportunity

to make their voices heard in these important elections.�I am grateful to

the court for giving us the tools we need to assure military and civilian

overseas voters can exercise their most important right of citizenship: voting," Cox

added.

A survey of county voter registrars conducted by the state Elections Division

found that some 412 overseas voters had submitted absentee ballot requests

30 days or more prior to the election but did not have ballots mailed to

them within the 30-day window and, of that group, 372 ballots had not yet

been returned to county registrars.

These two federal court orders address this problem, and the short time

period available for voting by absentee within the 21-day period before the

runoff, through a number of mechanisms (complete information on voting procedures

for overseas voters is available at www.sos.state.ga.us):

- Fax. The Secretary of State and the registrars of Georgia's

159 counties are authorized to send requested ballots to voters by facsimile

transmission or e-mail and to accept the return of voter oaths and voted

ballots to a single secure facsimile machine under the supervision of the

Secretary of State. Fax transmissions may be sent directly to the State Election

Division at 404-657-5371, or to the Federal Voting Assistance Program at

one of the following Toll free FVAP numbers: (800) 368-8683; (703) 693-5527;

DSN 223-5527. Citizens should be sure to fax the entire ballot including

any oath or signature required on the ballot-mailing envelope. All ballots

must be voted, transmitted and received by 7 p.m. EDT Aug. 10 for the runoff.

- Federal write-in ballot. The orders permit UOCAVA-protected overseas

voters to use the Federal Write-In Absentee Ballot, which allows voters who

have not received a ballot from their county to use a federal write-in form

on which candidate choices are written.

- Extending the deadline for receipt of mailed absentee ballots. The

orders extend the deadline for receipt of absentee ballots mailed