A judge in the U.S. state of Georgia has blocked seven state election rules favored by Republican Rep. Donald Trump, saying they unnecessarily interfere with the voting process.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox on Wednesday struck down two rules: one requiring ballots to be counted by hand and one related to certifying election results.
“The rules at issue exceed or conflict with certain provisions of the Elections Act. Accordingly, the rules at issue are unlawful and void,” Judge Cox wrote in the ruling.
Early voting began Tuesday in Georgia, with record numbers casting ballots in the key swing state ahead of Election Day on November 5.
On the first day of voting, more than 459,000 people voted in person or by mail, officials said. This is more than three times the previous record of 136,000 in 2020.
About 5 million votes were cast in Georgia that year for the presidency, with Democrat Joe Biden winning the state by less than 12,000 votes.
Trump refused to accept the results. He is currently facing criminal charges for allegedly trying to illegally change the outcome.
A recording of the phone call shows him telling Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, “Find 11,780 votes.”
The judge overseeing the Georgia case later dismissed the charges and five other charges related to that phone call.
Fanny Willis, the Georgia prosecutor handling Trump’s case, asked an appeals court Tuesday to reinstate charges against six people who had been dismissed.
The hand-count rule, which was struck down Wednesday, would have required three poll workers in the state’s more than 6,500 precincts to open sealed boxes of ballots already scanned by machines to count them and see if they matched.
Critics have said the rule could slow reporting of election results, and supporters have argued it would add minutes, rather than hours, to the tally.
The rule has been criticized by Democrats since it was passed by the Republican-controlled state Board of Elections in August.
In a speech that month, Trump praised Republican board members as “pit bulls who fight for transparency, honesty and victory.”
In his ruling, Judge Cox criticized the rule requiring county officials to conduct a “reasonable investigation” before certifying results, saying it “adds an additional and undefined step to the certification process.”
Another rule involving language allowing county election officials to “examine all election-related documents produced during the conduct of an election” was vacated.
Supporters argued that these rules would ensure vote totals were counted accurately before being approved. Critics said it could be used to delay or deny certification.
The hand count rule was blocked in a ruling Tuesday by another judge, who ruled that “an 11-and-a-half-hour implementation of the hand count rule” would erode public confidence in the outcome and cause “administrative chaos.” “.
“This election season is a difficult one. The memory of January 6 (the 2021 U.S. Capitol riot) is not fading, regardless of one’s view of the date’s fame or infamy,” Justice Robert McBurney wrote.
“Anything that adds uncertainty and disorder to the electoral process harms the public.”
Harris’ campaign welcomed Tuesday’s hand ruling, saying it was an attempt to sow doubt in the voting process.
In a separate decision Monday, Judge McBurney ruled that the Republican nominee who refused to certify the results of Georgia’s presidential primary earlier this year must force election board members to certify the results.
Georgia, nicknamed the Peach State, is one of seven key swing states expected to decide the race between Trump and Harris.
