A Georgia judge on Tuesday blocked a state Election Commission rule requiring manual counting of ballots in elections. Reports Reuters. The change was made by the Republican-majority State Election Commission – According to his critics – he exceeded his powers – It was adopted a month and a half before the vote, on September 20. This step was not supported by the Republican Attorney General or the elections official. A body dominated by Trumpists Clife According to his own reasoning the The aim is to make the electoral process more secure and transparent.
Democrats said the amendment would cause chaos and delay the announcement of results, so they filed a lawsuit.
Robert McBurney The judge stated in his decision Tuesday that the change would create uncertainty just weeks before Election Day. The amendments have been blocked from taking effect pending further review, but the decision could still be overturned by the Court of Appeal.
McBurney, in a ruling independent of this, is also that step taken by the Electoral Commission hangingUnder which some county officials can launch an investigation even before the result is certified, if they believe they have discovered election irregularities. The court therefore requires officials to certify the results. Voting rights groups say the rule would allow election results to be challenged and to refuse to certify them.
In the meantime
Yesterday, a record number of more than 328,000 people cast their votes in Georgia on the first day of early voting.
The previous record for the first day was set during the coronavirus pandemic in 2020, when 136,000 people decided to vote early. In many US states, it is possible to vote by mail or in person before Election Day under various circumstances.
It was once considered a Republican stronghold In Georgia in 2020, Joe Biden defeated Donald Trump by 0.23 percentage points. RealClearPolling according to The Republican standard-bearer currently leads by 0.7 points Kamala Harris Against the Democratic presidential candidate.
The cover image is an illustration. Cover image source: Getty Images
