Georgia Supreme Court rejects Republican effort to restore last-minute election rules

ATLANTA — The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously denied the Republican Party’s attempt Tuesday to reinstate State Election Board rules for an election night ballot count and a “reasonable inquiry” requirement before certifying results.

The high court’s one-page order leaves in place a Fulton County judge’s ruling last week that seven new election rules are “illegal, unconstitutional and void.”

The Republican Party of Georgia and the Republican National Committee had asked the court for an expedited appeal before Election Day, but the Georgia Supreme Court declined to grant the request. The court didn’t write a reason. The order noted the appeal can proceed on a normal schedule.

A Republican who sued the State Election Board, former state Rep. Scot Turner, said the board exceeded its authority by changing election procedures.

“I’m excited for election workers who have been expressing relief that they won’t have to implement these eleventh-hour rules changes,” Turner said. “The point of the lawsuit has always been to restore the separation of powers and to make sure the Legislature has supremacy over election law and to make sure unelected appointees were not making new law.”

The Republican Party had argued to the courts that the State Election Board’s rules were essential safeguards that needed to be put in place.

“The rules adopted by the SEB to reinforce key transparency and checks and balances in Georgia law are common sense,” Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon said. “It is supremely disappointing to observe yet another failure of our judicial system to expeditiously resolve critical questions about our elections process.”

In his decision, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox Jr. threw out seven rules passed by the State Election Board’s Republican majority after Donald Trump praised them as “pit bulls” during an Atlanta rally in August. Cox found that the board had exceeded its authority.

Perhaps the most contentious rule would have required poll workers to count the number of ballots cast after polls close on election night, potentially delaying results for minutes or hours. The manual review would have counted ballots but not who received the most votes.

Another rule called for county election board members to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying results one week after election day, a mandate that critics feared could be used as a justification to reject the outcome.

In addition, county election board members would have been permitted to review all election documents before certification.

Cox also invalidated rules that would have granted partisan poll watchers access in vote tabulation areas and required daily reporting of the number of absentee and early voters on county websites.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley accused Cox of “judicial activism” when he ruled against the rules last week.

“By overturning the Georgia State Election Board’s commonsense rules passed to safeguard Georgia’s elections, the judge sided with the Democrats in their attacks on transparency, accountability, and the integrity of our elections,” Whatley said.

The lawsuit against the rules was filed by Republicans including Turner and Chatham County election board member James Hall, along with Eternal Vigilance Action, an advocacy organization Turner leads. The Democratic Party brought a similar lawsuit, but Cox didn’t rule on that case.

“With this ruling, the court keeps the status quo in place, refusing to allow the SEB to inject chaos and confusion into our democratic system,” said Andrea Young, executive director of the American Civil Liberties Union of Georgia. “We are excited about the record early voting numbers in Georgia and glad that now all can focus on participating in this important election without disruption.”

Even without the State Election Board’s rules seeking inquiries and documents before certifying results, county election boards will still verify elections before finalizing them.

A different judge ruled last week that state law requires county election board members to certify election results — and that they also have an obligation to compare the number of votes, the number of voters and investigate any discrepancies.

Concerns about miscounts must be reported to prosecutors, but those doubts aren’t a reason to decline certification, ruled Fulton Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney. He also found that election documents should be “promptly provided” to election board members, but delays wouldn’t justify a refusal to certify the results.

While the appeal will continue through the courts, the Georgia General Assembly is expected to consider writing the State Election Board’s rule proposals into law during the legislative session that begins in January.

“Today’s ruling is a huge win for Georgia voters and the rule of law,” said Lauren Groh-Wargo, CEO of Fair Fight, a voting rights organization founded by Democrat Stacey Abrams. “These rules are part of a larger election denier plot to undermine confidence in our elections, but once again, the courts have affirmed that the rule of law will prevail.”

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