Georgia’s State Election Board on Friday voted to approve a brand new rule that requires ballot employees to depend the variety of paper ballots by hand.
The board voted 3-2 to approve the rule, going in opposition to the recommendation of the state lawyer common’s workplace, the secretary of state’s workplace and an affiliation of county election officers. Three board members who have been praised by former President Donald Trump throughout a rally final month in Atlanta voted to approve the measure.
In a memo despatched to election board members Thursday, the workplace of state Lawyer Basic Chris Carr stated no provision in state regulation permits counting the variety of ballots by hand on the precinct degree earlier than the ballots are dropped at county election superintendent for vote tallying. Consequently, the memo says, the rule is “not tethered to any statute” and is “likely the precise kind of impermissible legislation that agencies cannot do.”
The brand new rule requires that the variety of paper ballots — not the variety of votes — be counted at every polling place by three separate ballot employees till all three counts are the identical. If a scanner has greater than 750 ballots inside on the finish of voting, the ballot supervisor can resolve to start the depend the next day.
A number of county election officers who spoke out in opposition to the rule throughout a public remark interval previous the vote warned that having to depend the ballots by hand at polling locations may delay the reporting of election night time outcomes. Additionally they frightened about placing an extra burden on ballot employees who’ve already labored a protracted day.
