The US Court of Appeals for the Eleventh Circuit ruled Friday that requiring voters to pay for their own postage and stamps for both mail-in-ballots and ballot applications would not be considered an unconstitutional poll tax.

In April 2020 the Georgia chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit claiming that Georgia’s postage payment requirement essentially functioned as a poll tax, and in turn, was unconstitutional. The suit was brought on behalf of not just the voters, but the Black Votes Matter Fund, a group whose aim is empowering communities of color. The lawsuit points out how this new law makes it harder for Georgians to vote, but especially making the process even more difficult for people of color, new citizens, and religious communities.

In the recent opinion, Circuit Judge Elizabeth Branch affirmed the 2020 ruling of a US District Court Judge, writing:

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. … While voting often involves incidental costs like transportation, parking, child care, taking time off work, and—for those who choose to vote absentee by mail—the cost of a postage stamp, those incidental costs do not mean that Georgia has imposed an unconstitutional poll tax or fee on its voters.

That US District Court Judge, Amy Totenberg, ruled in 2020 that despite the obvious challenges voters face (markedly during the coronavirus pandemic), the postage tax would not be unconstitutional given postage and stamps are readily available to the general public.

Sean Young, the director of the Georgia ACLU chapter, stated that the decision is disappointing, and that all legal options remain on the table in regards to a possible appeal.