Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled Tuesday that certifying elections is a required duty of county election boards in Georgia, and they’re not allowed to refuse to finalize results based on suspicions of miscounts or fraud.
TNS/ABACA via Reuters Connect
On Tuesday, a judge in Georgia blocked a new rule requiring that election ballots be hand-counted in the state, a change that allies of former President Donald Trump wanted. Opponents of the rule, which the Georgia State Election Board passed in September, said it would cause unnecessary delays in results and lead to avoidable electoral pandemonium.
Trump previously praised the three right-wing board members who formed a conservative majority on the board and pushed the rule through as “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency, and victory.”
But Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said Tuesday that the rule “is too much, too late.”
Earlier in the day, McBurney in a separate case also said that local election officials “have a mandatory fixed obligation to certify election results," in another blow for Trump allies who’ve contended results could be delayed over fraud concerns.
Georgia was at the heart of Trump’s push to overturn the election results in 2020, which ultimately led to him being indicted.