Georgia's State Election Board members discuss proposals for election rule changes at the state capitol, Sept. 20, 2024, in Atlanta. (Mike Stewart/AP)
Democrats filed a lawsuit on Monday against a new rule passed by the pro-Trump majority on the Georgia state election board requiring the hand count of ballots on Election Day, which Democrats and voting rights groups worry could delay election results and be used as a pretext by Republican officials not to certify a Democratic victory.
“If the Hand Count Rule is allowed to go into effect, the general election will not be orderly and uniform—large counties will face significant delays in reporting vote counts, election officials will struggle to implement new procedures at the last minute, poll workers will not have been trained on the new Rule because it was adopted too late, and the security of the ballots themselves will be put at risk,” the lawsuit filed by the Democratic National Committee and Democratic Party of Georgia states.
The hand count requirement was adopted on September 20—six weeks before the general election—by the three MAGA-aligned members of the state election board, despite warnings by the state’s Republican attorney general and secretary of state that it was likely illegal. County election officials also told the board the rule could delay election results and lead to distrust of the counting process, which the Trump campaign could weaponize to pressure county officials not to certify the results if Kamala Harris wins the state.
The board’s MAGA majority, who Trump praised as “pit bulls” during a rally in Atlanta in August, have passed a series of controversial rule changes at the behest of election deniers that could plunge the vote-counting process into chaos in the state. In August, they also passed rule changes requiring counties to undertake a “reasonable inquiry” into the vote totals and granting them access to “all election-related documentation,” which Democrats, in a separate lawsuit, argued could delay election certification and result in the “mass disenfranchisement of eligible, registered Georgians.” That lawsuit will receive a hearing in state court on Tuesday. A Republican-led group has also filed suit against the board’s new changes.
The Harris campaign is supporting the Democrats’ lawsuits.
“We agree with Georgia’s Republican Attorney General and Secretary of State: This rule is unproductive and unlawful, and we are fighting it,” Harris deputy campaign manager Quentin Fulks said in a statement. “Democrats are stepping in to ensure that Georgia voters can cast their ballots knowing that they will be counted in a free and fair election.”
