SEB Member Janelle King told The Federalist she is ‘disappointed for the people of Georgia’ following McBurney’s ruling.
The State Election Board (SEB) passed a rule last month that sought to ensure the number of physical ballots counted matches the Election Day machine count total at the precinct level. But after Democrats launched a lawfare campaign, a Georgia judge blocked the rule on Tuesday despite acknowledging it would simply provide “confirmation that the machine counts match reality.”
Rule 183-1-12-.12 (a)(5) stated that “three sworn precinct poll officers” shall count by hand the “number of ballots removed from the scanner … until all of the ballots have been counted separately by each of the three poll officers.” If the machine count total does not match the hand count total, “the poll manager shall immediately determine the reason for the inconsistency; correct the inconsistency, if possible; and fully document the inconsistency or problem along with any corrective measures taken.”
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney himself acknowledged the rule “may be” “smart election policy,” but that “the timing of its passage make[s] implementation now quite wrong.”
“On paper, the Hand Count Rule — if properly promulgated — appears consistent with the SEB’s mission of ensuring fair, legal, and orderly elections. It is, at base, simply a check of ballot counts, a human eyeball confirmation that the machine counts match reality,” McBurney ruled.
But the judge blocked the rule from going into effect in his Tuesday decision, arguing the rule comes too close to an election and there is not enough time to properly train election workers.
The hand count rule was one of several election rules passed by the Georgia SEB in September. Earlier this month, the elections board of Cobb County asked McBurney to invalidate six of the state board’s rules. They also asked the judge to specifically stop implementation of the rule requiring counties to double-check machine ballot totals by hand, even though state statute already requires a similar reconciliation process, stating that county officials “compare the registration figure with the certificates returned by the poll officers showing the number of persons who voted in each precinct or the number of ballots cast.”