Judge strikes down Trump-backed Georgia election board rule changes

ATLANTA (CN) — A judge on Wednesday invalidated seven new controversial election rules imposed by the Georgia Election Board’s Republican majority over recent months.

In an 11-page order, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox Jr. declared the rules — passed by the state election board’s Republican majority — are “illegal, unconstitutional and void.”

He ordered for the state election board to immediately remove the rules and inform all state and local election officials that those rules are void and not to be followed.

The judge wrote in his ruling that the U.S. Constitution prohibits the state election board from enacting election rules regarding the election of federal officers.

“The Georgia Constitution provides that only the General Assembly may provide for a law for a procedure whereby returns of all elections by the people are made to the secretary of state,” Cox wrote. “The Election Code accomplishes this and the SEB has no authority to legislate otherwise.”

Cox made the decision after a hearing Wednesday in a lawsuit brought by two Republicans, former state Representative Scot Turner and Chatham County election board member James Hall.

Turner filed the suit on behalf of his non-profit organization, Eternal Vigilance Action, which says it aims to defend elections from attacks that erode public faith in electoral outcomes based on misinformation and disinformation.

“The loss of public confidence in election institutions stemming from the illicit creation and exercise of the SEB Rules will directly impact and impair Eternal Vigilance Actions efforts and mission to ensure clarity and public confidence in those institutions,” Cox wrote.

One of the rules that were struck down would have required county election board members to conduct an undefined “reasonable inquiry” before certifying elections one week after election day.

This provision is not part of the certification procedures and requirements that superintendents must adhere to when certifying election returns as defined under state law, Cox wrote.

Another rule permitted them to review “all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections” prior to certifying election results.

“The SEB rule creates a statutorily unbounded scope under which superintendents can consider unauthorized materials when tabulating, canvassing, and certifying election results,” Cox wrote. “Thus, this provision is void as it is inconsistent with the statutory framework, void and unenforceable.”

Cox added that the state election board’s rule requiring a person delivering an absentee ballot to provide a signature and photo ID, is also not supported by state law.

Other rules that Cox vacated would have allowed poll watcher access in vote tabulation areas and required daily reporting on county websites of the number of absentee and early voters, and an election night hand count of the number of ballots cast in each precinct.

The judge wrote that under Georgia’s election code, designated poll watchers are only allowed in the check-in area, the computer room, the duplication area and such other areas as the superintendent may deem necessary.

He added that while it does require daily reporting of absentee ballot information by the county board of registrars, it does not include weekend reporting as implemented by the board.

As for the hand-counting of ballots rule, Cox said this would require poll workers to engage in a “cumbersome” process and vastly expands their obligations.

On Tuesday, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney blocked implementation of the so-called hand count rule, writing it “is too much, too late.” His ruling came from a separate challenge to the election board’s rules from the Cobb County election board, in Atlanta’s suburbs.

The latest court battle occurred as record numbers of voters turned out during the first two days of in-person early voting in Georgia.

As the state election board faces a flurry of lawsuits from both Democrats and Republicans, McBurney also issued an order on Monday ruling that “no election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance.”

While they are entitled to inspect the conduct of an election and to review related documents, he wrote, “any delay in receiving such information is not a basis for refusing to certify the election results or abstaining from doing so.”

The rulings are wins for Democrats, liberal voting rights groups and legal experts who have raised concerns that the rule changes not only undermine public confidence in election results but could also cause former President Donald Trump’s allies to refuse to certify the results if the former president loses to Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in next month’s presidential election.

The new state election board rules passed over recent months were approved by the three Republicans whom Trump called out by name during an Atlanta campaign rally in August, calling them “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory.”

Janelle King, Rick Jeffares and Janice Johnston have defended their decisions as wanting to improve accuracy in ballot counting and argued that Georgia already requires such hand counts in the event of an audit.

Such changes have drawn controversy from both Republicans and Democrats due to Georgia’s recent electoral history: Although President Joe Biden carried the Peach State by fewer than 12,000 votes during the 2020 presidential election, Trump has continued to falsely insist that he won the critical swing state.

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