Georgia judge blocks multiple new state election rules

Fulton County Superior Judge Thomas Cox on Wednesday struck down seven new rules passed earlier this year by the State Election Board. Cox said the rules were illegal and unconstitutional, and said the board had exceeded its legal authority in passing the measures. The board could appeal the ruling. 

Original story: Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney on Tuesday paused a new requirement that would have had poll workers hand-count ballots from the Nov. 5 election. McBurney said the rule would have caused chaos and could delay the swing state’s results. He halted the procedural change because he said it was adopted too close to the election and there was not enough time to properly train and equip poll workers to conduct the counts. However, McBurney wrote in the opinion that the hand count rule is a good policy. 

The judge on Monday also ruled that county election officials cannot refuse to certify results. They must certify results by the Monday or Tuesday after the election, as dictated by Georgia law, he decided. McBurney’s opinions came as Georgia voters headed to the polls in record numbers Tuesday for the first day of early voting.

What was the new rule? Georgia’s election board in September voted 3-2 to pass a rule that would have required three sworn poll officers at each polling location to independently hand count the number of ballots cast on Nov. 5 or 6. GOP presidential candidate Donald Trump praised the change, while Georgia Attorney General Christopher Carr, who is also a Republican, said the rule could be easily challenged. Elections officials in Atlanta challenged the decision with support from the Democratic National Committee.

Dig deeper: Read Carolina Lumetta’s report about pending lawsuits that could dictate how the election is conducted.