A judge has blocked a new rule that requires Georgia Election Day ballots to be counted by hand after the close of voting. The ruling came a day after the same judge ruled that county election officials must certify election results by the deadline set in law.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney looks through paperwork, Monday, Aug. 14, 2023, in Atlanta.
The State Election Board last month passed the rule requiring that three poll workers each count the paper ballots — not votes — by hand after the polls close. The county election board in Cobb County, in Atlanta’s suburbs, had filed a lawsuit seeking to have a judge declare that rule and five others recently passed by the state board invalid, saying they exceed the state board’s authority, weren’t adopted in compliance with the law and are unreasonable.
Georgia law says county election superintendents — generally multimember boards — “shall” certify election results by 5 p.m. on the Monday after an election, or the Tuesday if Monday is a holiday as it is this year.In blocking the hand count rule, McBurney noted that there are no guidelines or training tools for its implementation and that the secretary of state had said the rule was passed too late for his office to provide meaningful training or support.
During a hearing earlier Tuesday, Robert Thomas, a lawyer for the State Election Board, argued that the process isn’t complicated and that estimates show that it would take extra minutes, not hours, to complete. He also said memory cards from the scanners, which are used to tally the votes, could be sent to the tabulation center while the hand count is happening so reporting of results wouldn’t be delayed.
Long an administrative task that attracted little attention, certification of election results has become politicized since Trump tried to overturn his loss to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 general election. Republicans in several swing states, including Adams, refused to certify results earlier this year and some have sued to keep from being forced to sign off on election results.
The Democratic National Committee and Democratic Party of Georgia had joined the lawsuit as defendants with the support of Harris' campaign. The campaign called the ruling a “major legal win.”
South Africa Latest News, South Africa Headlines
Similar News:You can also read news stories similar to this one that we have collected from other news sources.
Harris In Michigan, Trump In Georgia For Town Halls As Election Day Looms: Latest UpdatesAndy Campbell is a senior editor and reporter at HuffPost, focusing on crime and extremism. He is the author of 'We Are Proud Boys: How a Right-Wing Street Gang Ushered in a New Era of American Extremism,' coming 9/20/22.
Read more »
Georgia State Election Board approves rule requiring hand count of ballotsATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's State Election Board on Friday voted to approve a new rule that requires poll workers to count the number of paper ballots by hand.
Read more »
Georgia State Election Board approves rule requiring hand count of ballotsATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's State Election Board on Friday voted to approve a new rule that requires poll workers to count the number of paper ballots by hand.
Read more »
Georgia State Election Board approves rule requiring hand count of ballotsATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's State Election Board on Friday voted to approve a new rule that requires poll workers to count the number of paper ballots by hand.
Read more »
Georgia State Election Board approves rule requiring hand count of ballotsATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's State Election Board on Friday voted to approve a new rule that requires poll workers to count the number of paper ballots by hand.
Read more »
Georgia State Election Board approves rule requiring hand count of ballotsATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's State Election Board on Friday voted to approve a new rule that requires poll workers to count the number of paper ballots by hand.
Read more »