Judge blocks rule that would require Georgia to hand-count ballots

By lauraharris // 2024-10-21

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A Georgia judge has temporarily blocked a new rule from the Georgia State Election Board (GSEB) that would require election officials to hand-count ballots cast at each polling location. On Sept. 20, the GSEB approved the hand-counting of ballots for the upcoming election to ensure votes cast on paper match the tallies from electronic voting machines. The rule, set to take effect on Oct. 22, would require poll workers to open ballot boxes and hand-count ballots to verify the total number of votes. (Related: Georgia State Election Board approves HAND-COUNTING OF BALLOTS in 2024 presidential election.) However, Judge Robert McBurney of the Fulton County Superior Court temporarily blocked the rule on Oct. 16, the first day of in-person early voting in the state. "No training has been administered (let alone developed), no protocols for handling write-in ballots … have been issued and no allowances have been made in any county's election budget for additional personnel and other expenses required to implement the Hand Count Rule," McBurney wrote. "The administrative chaos that will – not may – ensue is entirely inconsistent with the obligations of our boards of elections (and the GSEB) to ensure that our elections are fair, legal and orderly." Moreover, McBurney warned that implementing this rule at the last minute would create confusion and undermine the election process. "This election season is fraught; memories of Jan. 6 have not faded away, regardless of one's view of that date’s fame or infamy. Anything that adds uncertainty and disorder to the electoral process disserves the public," McBurney wrote, adding that while the rule appears on paper to be an extra human check on the accuracy of the election, its last-minute passage "does not contribute to lessening the tension or boosting the confidence of the public for this election."

McBurney: Local state election officials must certify election results

McBurney is also presiding over other several high-profile cases concerning elections in Georgia. One such case involves a rule passed by the board in August, which requires local election officials to conduct "reasonable inquiry" into election results before certifying them. That same day, McBurney declared that county election boards are not permitted to refuse to certify election results. Instead, he reaffirmed that concerns about election fraud or irregularities must be addressed in court, not through unilateral actions by local officials. "If election superintendents were, as Plaintiff urges, free to play investigator, prosecutor, jury and judge and so – because of a unilateral determination of error or fraud – refuse to certify election results, Georgia voters would be silenced. Our Constitution and our Election Code do not allow for that to happen," McBurney said in his order. In response to a lawsuit filed by Julie Adams, a Republican member of the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections, McBurney stressed that the law requires county officials to certify the results. He also noted that the use of the word "shall" in the law conveys a command. "To users of common parlance, 'shall' connotes instruction or command: You shall not pass!" he wrote, quoting Gandalf's famous battle cry from "The Lord of the Rings." And, generally, even lawyers, legislators and judges, construe 'shall' as 'a word of command.'" Follow Rigged.news for more news about election issues in America. Watch the video below about South Dakota counties planning to vote on paper ballots. This video is from The Lindell Report channel on Brighteon.com.

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McBurney: Local state election officials must certify election results

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