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With two months until the November election, a three-member majority of the State Election Board has tried to muscle through a series of election rule changes. The new rules alarm voting rights advocates who say additional requirements to verify vote counts could be used by Republican county election board members as a justification to refuse to certify results. Republicans say the rules are needed to ensure accuracy.
A trial began in Georgia on Tuesday that might have a direct impact on the outcome of the Nov. 5 presidential election. The Democratic National Committee issuing the Georgia state election board over its approval of a new requirement that all ballots cast in Georgia, a crucial swing state, be counted by hand after the polls close on Election Day.
A majority of the five-member board, three members that Republican candidate Donald Trump has praised by name at campaign rallies, says this change is needed to prevent election fraud by ensuring that the hand count of votes matches the total number generated electronically by voting machines.
The DNC argues that this rule change will create chaos and delay the reporting of results, particularly in densely populated Atlanta and its suburbs, districts which voted overwhelmingly for President Joe Biden in 2020. The suit warns that delays in counting could also threaten the security of the ballots themselves.
The suit also claims the election board is not a law-making body and has exceeded its authority by establishing this rule. Georgia’s Republican secretary of state and attorney general have also opposed the hand count. There is no jury in this case. A ruling will be issued by a judge. This is just one of a number of lawsuits filed in Georgia and other swing states that have become part of a tug-of-war over the counting of votes and certification of elections.