The judge is considering Cobb County’s challenge to Georgia Board of Elections rules just before voting begins. • Georgia Recorder

An attorney for the Cobb County Board of Elections argued Tuesday against requiring local officials to follow a new vote-counting procedure and several other new state election rules set to apply to the Nov. 5 general election.

The latest legal battles over the Georgia State Election Board’s controversial rule enacted in recent months will play out in court this week. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney held a hearing Tuesday on the Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration’s lawsuit seeking to overturn six rules adopted by the State Election Board in September.

Cobb officials claim the rules are unlawful and unnecessary changes that need to be implemented during this year’s election season. Early voting in Georgia began Tuesday with a record number of voters casting ballots at advanced polling locations.

On Wednesday, Fulton Judge Thomas A. Cox Jr. will hold a hearing on two separate election lawsuits, including several rules also being challenged in court by the Cobb Election Board.

State and national Republican political organizations have defended the implementation of election rules so close to an election, saying they are necessary steps to restore public confidence in elections following Democratic candidate Joe Biden’s narrow victory in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia acts.

The Cobb Board of Elections filed a complaint Oct. 2 against the State Election Board for adopting new rules Sept. 20 that change procedures for hand counting ballots, vote reconciliation and public reporting of vote totals would. Cobb officials argue that three state election board members loyal to former President Donald Trump adopted rules that went beyond their legal authority and came with unrealistic expectations that local election officials would vote several weeks after Election Day, March 5 November, would enforce this.

Georgia’s attorney general told the State Election Board in a Sept. 20 letter that some of its actions exceeded the five-member agency’s legal authority.

Cobb Board of Elections attorney Daniel White argued Tuesday that the new voting and ballot reporting rules duplicate procedures already followed by county election offices.

White said new election rules are usually implemented early enough in an election year for local poll workers to adjust before the general election. New election rules are typically implemented over several months, with ongoing communication between state election administrators and county election administrators, and full-time staff and poll workers trained on the changes.

“It doesn’t make sense to implement a rule a month before an election, and in this case two weeks before an election after it has already begun,” White said.

Under the new election rules, county election staff would be required to manually verify vote totals on the last day after polls close on Election Day. Another challenged rule would require counties to publish reports detailing the total number of votes recorded by machine counting and to correct any discrepancies.

Another rule change would expand the locations partisan poll watchers can access at polling stations and during ballot tabulation.

Since the state switched to electronic voting via touch screens in 2020, Cobb County has followed several protocols to verify vote totals and correct any discrepancies, White said.

McBurney is expected to rule on the plaintiff’s motion to vacate the six rule changes in the next few days. Before Tuesday’s hearing, McBurney ruled in another lawsuit that local election board members were required by law to certify election results.

After Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden, conspiracy theories spread among many Republicans attributing the former president’s loss to widespread fraud that was found to be unfounded in many court rulings, multiple recounts and audits.

Attorney Kevin Kuchar, who represented the Georgia Republican Party and intervened on behalf of the Georgia Election Board, argued Tuesday that the state board’s rulemaking is consistent with its legal duties to “make rules that they believe are appropriate.” “lead to greater confidence in election security” and ensure the integrity of the results.

“As we all know, the integrity of Georgia’s elections has been questioned in the recent past,” he said. “Certainly I would suggest that a rule designed to encourage loyalty in this upcoming election, scrapped at the last minute, will seriously undermine voter confidence.”