Georgia election board requires ballots be hand-counted despite warning from key GOP state officials

Allies of former President Donald Trump who control the Georgia State Election Board approved a controversial new rule Friday requiring counties to hand-count the of ballots cast at polling places on Election Day, despite bipartisan objections from election officials and poll workers.

Allies of former President Donald Trump who control the Georgia State Election Board approved a controversial new rule Friday requiring counties to hand-count the of ballots cast at polling places on Election Day, despite bipartisan objections from election officials and poll workers. The vote was 3-2, with the three Trump allies supporting the move, and a Democratic and independent GOP-appointed member of the board strongly opposing it, calling it an added step that could delay the results of the presidential election in the battleground state. The office of Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, previously warned the GOP-run board that this move would likely be unlawful because state laws don’t allow local election workers to hand-count ballots before the votes are officially counted. “These proposed rules are not tethered to any statute — and are, therefore, likely the precise type of impermissible legislation that agencies cannot do,” his office wrote. Carr’s office also warned the board that it might be too close to the election to make these changes – and that judges might even block these changes because of long-standing precedents that favor maintaining the status quo on the eve of elections. “The Board runs substantial risk of intruding upon the General Assembly’s constitutional right to legislate. When such intrusion occurs, the Board rule is highly likely to be ruled invalid should it be challenged,” Elizabeth Young, a senior attorney in Carr’s office, said in the letter on Thursday, warning the board that it might be overstepping its authority.