Georgia Judge Blocks Hand-Counting Ballot Rule In Blow To State’s GOP Election Officials

16 Oct 2024 by Siladitya Ray · Forbes

Topline

A Georgia judge blocked a new rule requiring ballots to be hand-counted on election night, delivering another blow to GOP election officials in the state—many of whom falsely blame election fraud for Donald Trump’s loss in the state in 2020—just hours after the same judge issued another ruling requiring local officials to certify election results.

Key Facts

In his ruling Tuesday, Georgia Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said the hand count rule was “too much, too late” as he halted its enforcement while the court “considers the merits” of the case.

Last month, Georgia’s GOP-controlled State Election Board passed a new rule requiring each county to have three poll workers count the paper ballots, but not votes, on election night after the polls close and before a machine count.

The judge said the new rule was passed too close to election day, and noted that no training or allowances have been made to any county’s election budget for “additional personnel and other expenses” required to implement the hand count.

McBurney wrote the election board “may be right” in believing the hand count is a smart election policy and offers “human eyeball confirmation that the machine counts match reality,” but criticized the timing of its passage.

During the hearing, the election board’s attorney had argued the hand count would only take a few extra minutes, rather than hours, to complete.

Crucial Quote

“The administrative chaos that will — not may — ensue is entirely inconsistent with the obligations of our boards of elections (and the SEB) to ensure that our elections are fair, legal, and orderly,” McBurney wrote in his ruling.

How Democrats Reacted To The Ruling?

The Harris campaign and other Democratic groups issued a joint statement hailing Tuesday’s ruling: “From the beginning, this rule was an effort to delay election results to sow doubt in the outcome, and our democracy is stronger thanks to this decision to block it.” Democratic elections lawyer Marc Elias said on X the ruling was the “Second victory today against election subversion in Georgia!”

Key Background

In a separate case earlier on Tuesday, McBurney ruled that election officials are required to certify election results and cannot refuse or abstain from doing so “under any circumstance.” The ruling was in response to a GOP member of the Fulton County election board, Julie Adams—with backing from the pro-Trump America First Policy Institute—who refused to certify the results of a primary election. Adams’ suit argued that election board members have the discretion to reject certification. McBurney, however, rejected this argument and ruled that election officials must certify the results by the Monday after Election Day. The judge noted that if election officials have any concerns about fraud or other errors, they should report the matter to the appropriate authorities, but cannot hold up the certification process. Several GOP election officials have refused to certify elections in the state since Trump falsely blamed election fraud for his defeat in Georgia in 2020.