Georgia Supreme Court Refuses to Revive Ballot Hand-Count Rule
(Bloomberg) -- The Georgia Supreme Court rejected a last-minute push by the Republican Party to reinstate a set of new election rules that included, among other things, a requirement that ballots be hand-counted in the upcoming US presidential contest.
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The one-paragraph order released Tuesday by the state’s highest court denied an emergency petition filed by the Republican National Committee challenging a lower court’s decision last week to strike down the rules as unlawful. It isn’t a final ruling on the lawfulness of the contested rules, but does mean they’ll remain blocked heading into the Nov. 5 election.
The Republican-majority Georgia State Election Board had voted 3-2 in August and September to adopt the seven rules at issue. In addition to the hand-count rule, the board adopted new language requiring county officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” into the election before certifying the results.
The board faced objections not only from Democrats and voting rights groups, but also some local election officials and top Republicans in the state who warned the changes would create chaos and confusion and potentially delay finalizing the results. Critics argued the new rules were designed to empower former president Donald Trump’s allies to intervene on his behalf if it appeared he’d lost the state.
Tuesday’s order leaves in place an injunction by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox, who declared that all of the rules were “illegal, unconstitutional and void.”
Although there were multiple lawsuits filed against the board, the one to reach the Georgia Supreme Court was filed by Eternal Vigilance Action, a group led by local Republicans. Scot Turner, the executive director, said in a statement that the high court’s order “should erase any doubt about the merits of our arguments” against the new rules.
“I’m a Republican and this is a conservative policy organization,” Turner said. “I do not like fighting my friends, but in this instance, fealty to the Georgia Constitution demands it.”
Claire Zunk, a spokesperson for the RNC, said in a statement that the party would continue to press the full appeal of Cox’s order and “continue to fight in Georgia and across the country for election safeguards that make it easy to vote and hard to cheat.”
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