Georgia Supreme Court refuses to reinstate hand-count rule in time for Election Day
The Georgia Supreme Court rejected a Republican request for a speedy appeal to get seven rules, including a requirement for thousands of poll workers to hand count ballots, reinstated in the final weeks before the election.
The decision likely means none of the rules will be in place on Election Day Nov. 5. The appeal will still be able to proceed on the regular, slower timeline.
The ballot hand-count rule was one of seven new rules struck down by trial Judge Thomas A. Cox Jr., who said in an Oct. 16 decision that the Georgia State Election Board lacked authority to pass the rules. The hand-count rule in particular has garnered widespread criticism from election workers and officials, who have warned it could undermine public confidence in the election and set fatigued workers up to miss the state's Nov. 12 county certification deadline.
Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon called the state high court's decision "supremely disappointing" in a statement posted on X.
"We will press our appeal next year and hope for sanity to prevail," McKoon said.
The hand-count rule is one of a flurry of election changes passed in recent weeks by three Republican members of the state election board who have been praised by former President Donald Trump as "pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory." Two of the members have defended the rule publicly as an election-strengthening measure, pushing back against claims that it would invite county officials to miss the certification deadline.
The state election board majority has repeatedly forged ahead in spite of warnings from Republican state officials.
Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in an Aug. 15 news release that the hand-count proposal could lead to "error, lost or stolen ballots, and fraud." Georgia Republican Attorney General Chris Carr told the election board the proposal was probably unlawful.
Passed Sept. 20, the rule was slated to go into effect Tuesday. The thousands of poll workers who would have been tasked with following it had yet to receive any training from Raffensperger's office on the proper way to implement it.
The other six rules that will remain stricken for the Nov. 5 election would have:
- Required local officials to conduct a "reasonable inquiry" before certifying results.
- Given county officials access to election-related documents.
- Required absentee ballot deliverers to provide a photo ID and signature at delivery.
- Mandated video recording of authorized drop boxes after polls close.
- Expanded designated poll-watching areas.
- Add requirements for the county board of registrars in reporting absentee ballot information.
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