Judge in Georgia blocks hand-counting of ballots on election night

ATLANTA, Ga. (AP) — A judge has stopped the manual counting of ballots three weeks before the November election.

In a ruling late Tuesday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote that Georgia’s hand-counting rule is “too much, too late” and blocked its enforcement while he considers the merits of a lawsuit against it.

“If the hand counting rule were to go into effect as planned, it would occur precisely in the two weeks following the election,” McBurney wrote in his order. “As of today, there are no guidelines or training tools for implementing the hand counting rule. There won’t be any.”

McBurney said the Georgia secretary of state’s office “advised the state Board of Elections prior to adoption of the hand-counting rule that the adoption would occur too close to the election for his office to provide meaningful training and assistance.”

The state election board voted in September to count ballots manually on election night, Nov. 5.

Attorney General Chris Carr had told the Georgia State Election Board that the controversial proposed changes to election rules were beyond its legal authority to implement.

Among the The main opponent of the measure was the Association of District Election Officialswhich is led by Richmond County Board of Elections Executive Director Travis Doss.

“It was very frustrating because the election officials there told the state election board that this was not a good idea and that there were other options. That’s when the attorney general told the state board of elections that this was borderline illegal and they were enforcing the rule anyway,” Doss said.

The Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials says the rule changes could hinder elections and increase errors.

Doss had asked the board to delay any new rules until after the November election, saying the group was “deeply concerned that dramatic changes at this stage would disrupt the preparation and training processes already underway for poll workers, absentee voting, early voting.” and election.” Preparation for the day.”

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The Cobb County Board of Elections filed a lawsuit seeking to have a judge invalidate the rule and five others recently adopted by the state board on the grounds that they exceeded the state board’s authority, not in accordance with adopted under the law and are inappropriate.

In his ruling Tuesday, McBurney wrote that county election budgets do not include provisions for additional staffing or expenses related to the scheme.

“The administrative chaos that will – and does not have to – result from this is in complete contradiction to the commitments of our election committees (and the SEB) to ensure that our elections are fair, legal and orderly,” he wrote.

McBurney wrote that the state board may be right that the rule is smart policy, but the timing of its passage now makes its implementation “quite wrong.” Citing the memory of the insurrection at the US Capitol by people seeking to prevent the certification of Democrat Joe Biden’s presidential victory on January 6, 2021, he wrote: “Anything that brings uncertainty and disorder to the electoral process is coming.” for the benefit of the public.”

As early in-person voting began in Georgia on Tuesday, McBurney heard arguments in Cobb County’s lawsuit challenging rules recently adopted by the State Election Board.

Most of Tuesday’s arguments focused on the rule that requires three different poll workers to hand-count Election Day ballots – but not votes – after polls close. Michael Caplan, an attorney for the Cobb Election Board, said the rule’s requirements are unclear and there has been no training on a rule that is scheduled to take effect two weeks before Election Day.

“That’s the problem we’re facing,” he told McBurney. “It’s not that this is a bad idea, but it’s far too close to an election to start this process.”

The judge noted that many county election officials had expressed concerns about implementing the rule so “late in the game.”

“I ask you from a practical point of view: If the goal is orderly and reliable elections, why wouldn’t it be more reasonable – in terms of reasonableness – to say: Let’s try this next election if all of these questions can be answered?” “Nobody has to sue,” McBurney asked Robert Thomas, an attorney for the State Election Board.

“The reason we shouldn’t pause is because the demands and the time required are completely excessive,” Thomas said. He argued that the process was not complicated and estimated that it would take additional minutes, not hours, to complete. He also said memory cards from the scanners used to count votes could be sent to the tabulation center during manual counting so that there is no delay in the transmission of results.

The barrage of election rules adopted by the State Election Board since August has led to a flood of lawsuits. McBurney heard a challenge to two certification-related rules from the state and national Democratic parties earlier this month. Another Fulton County judge will hear arguments tomorrow in two challenges to the rules — one from Democratic groups and another from a group led by a former Republican lawmaker. And separate challenges are also pending in at least two other districts.

On Monday, McBurney too ruled that election results in Georgia must be certified.

This order came in response to a lawsuit filed by Julie Adams, a member of the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections. Adams argued that she should refrain from certifying election results “if she believes the results are incorrect or not sufficiently reliable,” but McBurney said certification is a mandatory part of election officials’ duties.

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