Georgia’s new poll watcher and hand-counting rules play big role as early voting begins • Georgia Recorder

A new election law that could take effect this week would give poll watchers greater access to voters and poll workers after polls opened Tuesday for early voting for Georgia’s highly anticipated general election.

Election officials, political parties, voting rights groups and election security watchdogs in Georgia will be on high alert this week as hundreds of poll watchers are expected to be stationed at Georgia’s progressive polling sites, but now with greater legal freedom to observe voters and monitor other elections Operations.

The relaxation of access restrictions for election observers by the state election authority is the subject of one of several topics current rule changes They face legal challenges to prevent several rules from remaining in effect for Election Day on Nov. 5.

The relaxed restriction on poll watchers is one of several pending lawsuits challenging State Election Board rules passed by Donald Trump supporters Janelle King, Janice Johnston and Rick Jeffares.

State and national Republican political organizations have defended implementing the election rules so close to an election, saying they are necessary steps to restore public trust in elections. 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 proved unfounded after multiple recounts and audits.

The three election officials’ zeal for rulemaking earned them praise from former President Donald Trump at a campaign stop in Georgia in August, when he called them “pit bulls” for winning.”

Republican Attorney General Chris Carr pointed out that Georgia’s three right-leaning board members are exceeding the State Election Board’s rulemaking powers.

Several judges in Georgia are expected to rule in the next few days on the status of the rules, which critics say could cause confusion and chaos in the 2024 election.

Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer of the State Department, said
It would have been helpful if the state election board had listened to the many concerns expressed by county election officials about the last-minute rule changes.

There will be clarity for election officials after Wednesday’s hearing in Fulton County court, and a decision is pending on rules that give county boards of elections the authority to refuse to certify election results, Sterling said during a news conference on March 7 October, in which election preparations were updated following Hurricane Helene.

“We can’t devote limited resources to something that may not be happening right now, so we have to wait until it does,” Sterling said.

“We understand that many people feel that they need to do something to secure the election and increase people’s confidence in the outcome of the election,” he said. “Unfortunately, at the same time they undermine other people’s confidence in the election

A new rule set to take effect this week, which is being challenged in court, will require poll workers to manually check the final day vote totals after polls close on Election Day.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Cox, Jr. has scheduled hearings for Wednesday on two lawsuits challenging the State Election Board’s updated regulations that expand poll watchers’ access to polling places and poll workers require that ballots cast on election day be counted by hand.

The board’s decision expands the locations where poll watchers have access within polling stations. The election observation rule is the second time this year that changes to the law have given election observers a better overview of polling stations and voting centers. A new law passed by Republican lawmakers on July 1 lifted a restriction requiring poll watchers to stay in enclosed areas designated by local election officials.

Supporters of the new guidelines say the changes are intended to give local election officials and staff, as well as partisan poll observers, a better understanding of the extent of access during elections.

The plaintiffs in the September 11 election rules complaint are Eternal Vigilance Action, former Republican House Speaker Scott Turner, and James Hall, a member of the Chatham County GOP elections board.

The Republican National Committee and the Georgia Republican Party filed a response countering that Turner and Hall lacked legal standing to sue the state and disputed allegations that changes to election procedures would cause unnecessary disruption to elections.

“The rules adopted by the Georgia State Election Board speak for themselves,” the GOP organizations wrote in a Sept. 27 court brief.

Several million Georgians are expected to cast mail-in ballots and vote in person at polling stations by Nov. 5, when the presidential race between Trump and Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris as well as congressional and legislative contests are on the agenda.

According to current polls, Georgia is considered one of seven swing states in the presidential race. The statewide three-week early voting period runs from October 15th to November 1st.

Cox will also consider a motion for summary judgment on Wednesday that would overturn the order that three poll workers verify the final results recorded by electronic machines by hand-counting ballots cast on Election Day. The hand-counting rule is being challenged by local election officials in Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Forsyth counties, as well as by Democratic parties at the national and state levels.