Appeals court: Postage for absentee ballots isn’t a poll tax

By KATE BRUMBACK
Associated Press

ATLANTA (AP) — A federal appeals court says that requiring voters to provide their own stamps for mail-in ballots and ballot applications does not amount to an unconstitutional poll tax. The Friday ruling from the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upholds a lower court’s ruling. The American Civil Liberties Union and its Georgia chapter filed a lawsuit in April 2020 saying that Georgia’s postage requirement for absentee ballots and ballot applications effectively imposes a poll tax and is therefore unconstitutional. The lower court judge had said the fact that in-person voting is an option means that the postage requirement is not tantamount to an unconstitutional poll tax.