On Tuesday, the Georgia Supreme Court rejected an emergency appeal by the state’s Republican Party against a lower court decision that halted a new rule requiring election workers to manually count ballots at polling stations.
The judge’s ruling also means that county officials in Georgia will not have increased powers to question the results of district-level elections.
The lawsuit challenging existing election rules was brought by Republican allies of former President Trump, with the aim of preventing potential election fraud during the machine counting process.
After the Georgia Supreme Court refused to hear the case on Tuesday, the state’s Republican Party, who filed the appeal, stated in a release that they have no plans to appeal this decision to the state’s highest court before the election.
Josh McKoon, Chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, said in a statement, “Once again, our judiciary has failed to promptly address critical questions regarding our election processes, which is extremely disappointing. We will pursue an appeal next year.”
The Georgia Elections Board, where Republicans hold a majority, recently passed a series of new rules authorizing county election board members to investigate discrepancies between the number of voters and registered voters in each district, and to inspect election-related documents before certifying the election results.
One of the most controversial amendments is the requirement for election workers at polling stations across the state to manually count votes, starting as early as election night.
Voting rights groups have warned that the new rules could lead to delays or refusal to certify the election results, potentially throwing the state’s elections into chaos, while the state’s Attorney General’s office cautioned that the actions of the Elections Board likely exceeded its legal authority.
Last week, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox overturned these regulations, stating that they conflicted with state law and that the Elections Board had overstepped its legal authority in several respects.
Judge Cox wrote, “The disputed rules exceed the specific provisions of the Election Code or conflict with it. As such, the challenged rules are illegal and invalid.”
Georgia is one of the seven battleground states in the U.S. presidential election, expected to play a crucial role in the election on November 5th.