Fulton County Judge Derails Georgia Election Board’s Last Minute Plans

A Fulton County judge this week handed down a pair of decisions that derailed, at least in part, the MAGA-controlled Georgia State Election Board’s efforts to complicate the counting of votes through a series of rules that raised the specter of election-certification chaos.

On Tuesday night, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney paused one new rule from the board that would require elections workers to hand count the number of ballots cast in addition to a machine tabulation of the results in each precinct. Earlier on Tuesday, McBurney ruled that county election administrators are required to certify election results despite any suspicions of fraud they may have, which, he wrote, would later be investigated by law enforcement.

In his decision on the hand counting rule Tuesday, McBurney wrote that the rule was implemented too close to Election Day and has the potential to inject uncertainty and chaos into the election administration process. 

“[T]he public interest is not disserved by pressing pause here,” McBurney wrote in his order. “This election season is fraught; memories of January 6 have not faded away, regardless of one’s view of that date’s fame or infamy. Anything that adds uncertainty and disorder to the electoral process disserves the public.” 

The order comes in response to an October 2 lawsuit filed by the Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration as well as the Democratic National Committee, who argued in their complaint that the new rule would “substantially alter Georgia’s election procedures on the eve of the November 5, 2024 General Election.”

The hand-counting rule, which was set to take effect on October 22, was approved last month in a 3-2 vote, with supporters of the rule claiming that it would, according to the proposal, “ensure the secure, transparent, and accurate counting of ballots by requiring a systematic process where ballots are independently hand-counted by three sworn poll officers.”

McBurney’s ruling, however, will likely be appealed prior to Election Day, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported. 

In his decision earlier Tuesday, McBurney weighed in on another new election board rule that plaintiffs feared could lead to attempts to delay certification.

“While the superintendent must investigate concerns about miscounts and must report those concerns to a prosecutor if they persist after she investigates, the existence of those concerns, those doubts, and those worries is not cause to delay or decline certification,” McBurney wrote in his 11-page order.

The state election board also recently approved two other rules that are both the subject of separate lawsuits that are still awaiting decisions. 

One rule, approved in August, gives the board the authority to not certify election results until after a “reasonable inquiry” into any discrepancies in the voting process at the county level has been conducted by election officials. The rule, experts argue, is intentionally left vague and has the potential to give election deniers the power to delay certification with baseless claims of voter fraud. 

Another rule, also approved in August, gives election board members authority to “examine all election-related documentation before certifying the results.” Again, experts worry that this rule, like others, is simply another way to potentially delay certification and sow seeds of chaos into the election system.