Georgia judge blocks rule requiring counties to hand-count Election Day ballots
A Georgia judge on Tuesday blocked a new rule from the state's election board that would have required counties to count ballots cast on Election Day by hand.
A Georgia judge on Tuesday blocked a new rule from the state's election board that would have required counties to count ballots cast on Election Day by hand, a provision critics had said would cause delays and disruptions in reporting results in the battleground state.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote in his decision that the rule would be implemented too close to the election and that it would cause "administrative chaos" given the limited time available to train poll workers.
"[T]he public interest is not disserved by pressing pause here. 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," he wrote. "Anything that adds uncertainty and disorder to the electoral process disserves the public."
An election official counts absentee ballots for the Presidential election at State Farm Arena in Atlanta, on Nov. 4, 2020.Elijah Nouvelage / Bloomberg via Getty Images fileThe temporary injunction, which is likely to be appealed, is a win for Democrats who filed the suit after the State Election Board voted 3-2 in favor of the hand-counting rule last month. It was set to take effect on Oct. 22, two weeks out from Election Day.
The rule required election workers to count the number of ballots — not every vote on a ballot — cast on Nov. 5 before they are delivered to the county for counting and tabulation, sparking concerns it could unnecessarily delay the reporting of results and sow uncertainty in a key state in the presidential election.
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