The Georgia State Election Board has given its approval to a rule that mandates the hand count of ballots.

city of Atlanta —
On Friday, the electoral board for the state of Georgia in the United States voted to accept a new regulation that requires poll workers to count the amount of paper votes by hand after voting is concluded. With this move, critics are concerned that it could delay the reporting of election night results.

The conclusion made by the board was contrary to the recommendations made by the office of the state attorney general, the office of the secretary of state, and an association of county election officials. During a rally held in Atlanta a month ago, former President Donald Trump complimented three Republican board members who voted to approve the measure. On the other hand, the lone Democrat on the board and the chair who is nonpartisan voted to reject the measure.

Over the past few months, the State Election Board has been embroiled in controversy as it deliberates over new regulations, the majority of which have been submitted by individuals who are associated with Trump. They are concerned that the former president and his supporters could exploit new regulations to sow turmoil in this critical swing state and erode public trust in the results if he loses to Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris in November. This issue has been expressed by Democrats, legal experts, and advocates for democracy.

In a memo that was distributed to members of the election board on Thursday, the office of the state Attorney General Chris Carr stated that there is no provision in state law that permits the counting of ballots by hand at precincts. Specifically, the document states that the regulation is “not tethered to any statute” and that it is “likely the precise kind of impermissible legislation that agencies cannot do.” It cautions that any rule that exceeds the jurisdiction of the board is highly unlikely to be upheld in the face of a judicial challenge.

Two rules that were passed by the board a month ago that have to do with certifying vote counts have already been challenged in two different cases. One of the lawsuits was filed by Democrats, while the other was submitted by a conservative group. The trial for the lawsuit filed by the Democrats has been scheduled for October 1 by a court.

Last month, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger referred to the regulation regarding hand counting as “misguided,” stating that it would cause a delay in the reporting of election results and would present dangers to the procedures for chain of custody.

In accordance with the new regulation, the number of ballots, and not the number of votes, must be counted at each polling station by three different poll workers until all three counts are identical. In the event that a scanner contains more than 750 ballots at the conclusion of the voting process, the poll manager has the option of beginning the count the following day.

The voters in Georgia make their selections on a touchscreen voting machine, which then prints out a paper ballot that has a list of the voter’s choices that can be read by a human being, as well as a QR code that can be read by a scanner in order to count the votes.

Proponents of the rule argue that it is necessary to ensure that the electronic counts on scanners, check-in computers, and voting machines are consistent with the number of paper votes that are cast. There will be three workers who will be responsible for counting the ballots in piles of fifty, and the poll manager will be responsible for explaining and fixing any differences that may occur, as well as documenting them.

There is a possibility that the results will be delayed if the polling sites choose to wait until the hand tally is completed before sending the memory cards that record the votes in machines to the central tabulation location.

During the public comment process that took place prior to the vote, a number of county election officials voiced their opposition to the rule. They cautioned that a hand count might potentially cause a delay in the reporting of the results of the election. They were particularly concerned about adding an additional strain to poll workers who had already put in a full day of labour.

In the letter that was sent to the State Election Board a month ago, the leaders of the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials expressed concerns that were comparable to those expressed by Raffensperger. They warned that the regulation would ultimately weaken confidence in the process. According to the organisation, the members of the nonprofit group include more than five hundred election officials and workers from across the state.

A member of the board named Janelle King, who collaborated with the person who draughted the rule on its language, stated that she would not be concerned if the reporting on election night was slowed down a little bit in order to ensure that the number of ballots is accurate.

She remarked, “What I don’t want to do is set a precedent that we’re OK with speed over accuracy,” when the board was reviewing the rule proposal. She went on to say that she would rather wait an additional hour or so for the results than hear about litigation over faulty counts later on.

The chairman of the board, John Fervier, issued a warning that the board was acting contrary to the recommendations of its legal counsel and might be going beyond the scope of its jurisdiction.

“This board is a group that is responsible for administration. “It is not a legislative body,” he stated. “If the legislature had wanted this, they would have put it in statute.”

At the conclusion of the voting process, ballots are already being counted by hand in some other states. “Without complaints of delays or any potential impact on ballot security,” said Matt Dietrich, a spokeswoman for the Illinois State Board of Elections, in a statement. This is something that the state of Illinois has done for decades. “It’s designed to ensure integrity and voter trust and by all accounts has worked.”

Not only do the guidelines from the United States Election Assistance Commission state that “the total number of ballots cast should balance with the number of total voters processed at each polling place,” but they do not require a tabulator to perform a manual count of the ballots.

Additionally, a suggestion for a comparable count at early in-person voting places was put on hold until the year 2025 by the board. On Friday, the board deliberated over eleven new rules, adopting a few others that mostly involve minor modifications and tabling several regulations that are more complicated.

The election officials group had written a letter to the State Election Board on Tuesday, urging them not to adopt any new rules at a time when Election Day is less than fifty days away, ballots are already being distributed, and training for poll workers is well underway.

“We do not oppose rules because we are lazy or because a political operative or organisation wants us to,” according to the correspondence. “We oppose rules because they are poorly written, inefficient, would not accomplish their stated goals, or go directly against state law.”