By Canadian Press

Republicans say they’re appealing a Georgia judge’s ruling that invalidates seven election rules

Oct 17, 2024 | 5:42 PM

ATLANTA (AP) — National and state Republicans on Thursday appealed a judge’s ruling that said seven election rules recently passed by Georgia’s State Election Board are “illegal, unconstitutional and void.”

The Republican National Committee and the Georgia Republican Party are appealing a ruling from Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox, who ruled Wednesday that the State Election Board did not have the authority to pass the rules and ordered it to immediately inform all state and local election officials that the rules are void and not to be followed.

The rules that Cox invalidated include three that had gotten a lot of attention — one that requires that the number of ballots be hand-counted after the close of polls and two that had to do with the certification of election results.

In a statement Thursday announcing the appeal. RNC Chairman Michael Whatley accused Cox of “the very worst of judicial activism.”

“By overturning the Georgia State Election Board’s commonsense rules passed to safeguard Georgia’s elections, the judge sided with the Democrats in their attacks on transparency, accountability, and the integrity of our elections,” Whatley said. “We have immediately appealed this egregious order to ensure commonsense rules are in place for the election — we will not let this stand.”

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The ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Eternal Vigilance Action, an organization founded and led by former state Rep. Scot Turner, a Republican. The suit argued that the State Election Board overstepped its authority in adopting the rules.

The ruling was hailed as a victory by Democrats and voting rights groups, who say rules the State Election Board has passed in recent months could be used by allies of Donald Trump to cast doubt on results if the former president loses the presidential election to Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris. Recent appointments to the five-member board have put three Trump-endorsed Republicans in the majority. They have passed new rules over the objections of the board’s lone Democrat and the nonpartisan chair.

County election officials from around the state — the people who run the elections — have voiced concerns over the flood of new rules taking effect so close to Election Day.

The other rules Cox said are illegal and unconstitutional are ones that: require someone delivering an absentee ballot in person to provide a signature and photo ID; demand video surveillance and recording of ballot drop boxes after polls close during early voting; expand the mandatory designated areas where partisan poll watchers can stand at tabulation centers; and require daily public updates of the number of votes cast during early voting.

Kate Brumback And Jeff Amy, The Associated Press