Georgia Supreme Court Blocks Republican Push To Hand Count Ballots In Key Swing State

The Georgia Supreme Court blocked a Republican effort Tuesday to require poll workers to hand-count the number of ballots cast, upholding a lower court’s decision.

A Georgia judge previously blocked a state election board rule that would have required counties to hand-count ballots on Election Day. The Republican National Committee (RNC) and Georgia GOP appealed to the state’s highest court, requesting a quick reinstatement of the rules during their ongoing legal challenge, Politico reported.

The Supreme Court rejected the requests from the RNC to halt and quickly review the case, deciding instead that it will be handled in the normal manner once scheduled, according to court documents. The unanimous ruling ensures the mandate, introduced by the state election board, will not go into effect for the November election, despite Republican efforts to revive it, Politico stated.

“Upon consideration of the Petitioners’ motions as well the briefs filed by the parties and the amicus curiae, the Petitioners’ Motion for Emergency Supersedeas is DENIED,” the court document stated. “The Petitioners’ Motion for an Expedited Appeal is also DENIED. When the appeal is docketed in this Court, it will proceed in the ordinary course.”

The Georgia Supreme Court’s decision marks a victory for several election officials and poll workers who had warned that such a rule would lead to widespread confusion, errors and delays in reporting election results, Politico reported. The Republican-majority state election board introduced the hand-count requirement in September requiring poll workers to manually count ballots in each precinct immediately after voting concluded.

Election workers would compare these hand-count tallies to machine counts before sending the ballots to centralized counting facilities, the outlet stated. The state election board, with three members closely aligned with former President Donald Trump, approved the rule in a 3-2 vote, despite opposition from local election officials and poll workers. (RELATED: Election Litigation Could Shape The Race In Battleground States. We Won’t Know Until The Votes Are Cast.)

Proponents of the mandate argued it would enhance election security and increase public confidence in the integrity of the results by identifying discrepancies early, Politico reported. However, critics pointed out the likelihood of human error during the manual process, especially when poll workers are already overextended during the election period.

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