Hand-counting ballots and new certification rules struck down ahead of record-breaking early voting turnout.
Promoted by former President Donald Trump, seven recently proposed state election laws have been banned by a Georgian judge citing worries about their needless interference with the voting procedure. Delivered on Wednesday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox’s decision comes as early voting in the pivotal swing state ahead of election day on November 5 starts to show record-breaking numbers.
What Key Rules Were Struck Down?
Among the rules overturned is one requiring hand counting of ballots, a practice that would have required poll workers to confirm ballots already scanned by machines personally. Judge Cox discovered that the provision ran counter to current state election rules, along with two others about the certification of election results.
“The rules at issue either contradict with or surpass particular Election Code sections. Judge Cox said in his finding, “the challenged rules are unlawful and void.”
The court also disapproved of another clause requiring county officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before approving election results. Judge Cox called this rule “an additional and undefined step into the certification process.”
Furthermore, a provision permitting county election authorities to review any election-related records produced during the elections’ running was invalidated. Opponents of this rule claimed it would cause unwarranted delays or attempts to discredit the certification of valid findings.
Why Is There Record Early Voting Turnout?
The court rulings coincide with Georgia’s unprecedented early voting activity. On the first day of early voting, more than 459,000 people voted either in person or by post, exceeding the previous record of 136,000 established during the 2020 election.
According to election officials, around five million votes were registered in Georgia during the 2020 presidential contest; Democrat Joe Biden emerged from the state barely by under 12,000 votes. This year, Georgia’s important swing state status will determine the election’s result.
What Is Trump's Fight Over the 2020 Election Results?
The Republican-run State Election Board of Georgia passed the relevant guidelines in August. Having lost Georgia in the 2020 contest, Trump has not accepted the outcome and is still contesting the integrity of the ballot. He is now battling criminal accusations, claiming he tried to reverse the result illegally.
One of the most notorious events connected to Trump’s activities was when a phone conversation recording caught him exhorting Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find 11,780 votes.” The criminal case against Trump centered this call as a focal point.
Later, a judge supervising the Georgia case dismissed charges about the phone call and five more counts. On Tuesday, though, Fani Willis, the Georgia prosecutor handling the case, asked to have the six dropped charges reinstated.
How Could the Hand Count Rule Cause Chaos?
Under the hand-counting regulation banned on Wednesday, each of Georgia’s more than 6,500 polling stations would have needed three poll workers to tear open sealed boxes of votes already scanned and manually count them to validate machine results.
Opponents of the rule claimed it might cause the election results to be reported slower. They contend that implementing such a mechanism will cause pointless delays and help generate public confusion about the election’s outcome. Conversely, supporters argued that the regulation would guarantee more precision and add a few minutes to the counting process.
Judge Cox’s order is consistent with Judge Robert McBurney’s decision earlier in the week to reject the hand count rule, stating its abrupt application would erode public confidence and lead to “administrative chaos.”
McBurney noted in his decision, “This election season is volatile; memories of January 6 [the 2021 US Capitol riot] have not faded completely, regardless of one’s perception of that date’s fame or infamy. Anything that throws doubt and chaos into the voting process serves the public poorly.”
How Did the Harris Campaign Respond?
The campaign of Kamala Harris, Trump’s primary Democratic opponent, welcomes the legal challenges to the hand count rule. According to Harris’s team, the hand count regulation was meant to sow uncertainty ahead of the election, casting doubt on the validity of the voting process.
Following the decision, a Harris campaign official claimed, “This rule was nothing more than a thinly veiled attempt to create uncertainty and delay in an already secure voting process.”
What Was the Certification Crisis and How Was It Averted?
Earlier in the week, Judge McBurney also participated in another significant decision: He directed election board members to certify vote tallies following a Republican appointee’s refusal to do so during Georgia’s presidential primary earlier this year.
Election experts have expressed worries that this denial would create a risky precedent and inspire later attempts to discredit or prevent officially approved election results, depending on political inclination.
Why Is Georgia Crucial in the 2024 Election?
Georgia’s status as a battleground state is again under focus, with the approaching election just a few weeks away. The Peach State is among seven central swing states that were predicted to determine the outcome between Trump and Harris.
Trump has commended the Republican-run State Election Board for implementing the controversial policies. Referring to the board members in an August address as “pit bulls fighting for transparency, honesty, and victory,” he said
Democrats and voting rights organizations have long feared that these policies would complicate the voting process and give local officials more authority to challenge results they disagree with.
Georgia citizens may now keep voting without worrying about further delays or uncertainty resulting from these recently proposed restrictions based on the decisions of Judges Cox and McBurney. Still, the legal disputes over electoral processes in Georgia are probably ongoing since the state still significantly shapes the country’s political scene.
