Democrats filed a lawsuit Monday looking to block a controversial rule requiring ballots to be hand-counted by local precincts in Georgia, arguing it violated Georgia law and called it “improper.” A group of Democrats, including the Democratic National Committee and Georgia Democratic Party, are bringing a lawsuit against the Georgia State Election Board after the board passed a new rule earlier this month ordering for ballots to be hand-counted in addition to their routine machine tabulation.
The lawsuit argues that if both numbers do not match, the rule makes it unclear how to actually resolve the discrepancy between the two.
The lawsuit also notes that several state officials have raised concerns over the hand-count ballot rule, some of whom are Republicans: Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr and Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
“We agree with Georgia’s Republican Attorney General and Secretary of State: This rule is unproductive and unlawful, and we are fighting it.
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.” This is the latest lawsuit brought by Democrats against the Georgia State Election Board over new and controversial rules they’ve passed.
Democrats claimed the controversial Georgia law requiring hand-counting of ballots by local precincts was “improper” and filed a lawsuit on Monday to overturn it. “.
The Democratic National Committee and the Georgia Democratic Party, among other Democrats, are suing the Georgia State Election Board for enacting a new rule earlier this month that mandates hand counting of ballots in addition to the board’s usual machine tabulation.
The Harris campaign is supporting the lawsuit, which claims that the new rule “adds an additional hurdle to Georgia’s established process for collecting and tabulating ballots” because poll workers will have to ensure that a machine tabulation of Election Day ballots matches a hands-on count conducted by poll workers. The lawsuit claims that the rule leaves it unclear as to how to actually resolve the difference between the two numbers if they do not match.
The hand-count rule is illegal, according to Democrats who claim in their lawsuit that, among other things, the board “exceeded its rulemaking authority” and that “it improperly adds a new requirement to the Election Code beyond what the General Assembly contemplated and conflicts with the statutes the General Assembly did enact — in particular, by shifting part of the responsibility to oversee the tabulation of ballots from the county board to workers at individual precincts.”.
The lawsuit also mentions that a number of state officials, including Republican Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Attorney General Chris Carr, have expressed concerns about the hand-count ballot rule.
“Quentin Fulks, the principal deputy campaign manager for the Harris-Walz campaign, said in a statement that just weeks before Election Day, his MAGA allies in Georgia passed a new rule that will obstruct the process of counting votes so they can complain when voters reject Trump at the polls. As Donald Trump invents facts to try to sow doubt in our elections.”.
“This rule is unproductive and illegal, and we are fighting it, as do Georgia’s Republican Secretary of State and Attorney General. In order to guarantee that Georgia voters can cast their ballots with confidence that they will be counted in a free and fair election, Democrats are intervening. “.
Democrats have filed a lawsuit against the Georgia State Election Board in an attempt to overturn recent, contentious rules that were passed. Tuesday marks the beginning of a bench trial concerning some of those disputed rules, such as permitting a “reasonable inquiry” to be conducted prior to the certification of election results.
Former President Trump praised three board members, calling them “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency, and victory.”. “.