Georgia State Election Board Passes Rule To Count Ballots By Hand
Democrats are outraged after the Republican-led Georgia State Election Board passed a new rule that has sparked criticism from both sides of the political aisle.
In a 3-2 decision on Friday, with three allies of former President Donald Trump casting the crucial votes, the Board approved a measure requiring ballots to be hand-counted on Election Day, according to CNN.
“The new hand-counting rule requires counties to manually count the number of ballots cast at a polling location to ensure it aligns with the number counted by voting machines. However, the hand-counters will not determine how many votes each candidate received — that’s still done by the machines,” the report stated.
After the vote, State Election Board member Janelle King addressed the media, justifying the rule.
“Unfortunately, a few bad apples, a few miscounts here or there, and a few double counts overshadow the exceptional work many of our election board offices are consistently doing,” she remarked. “So we’re in a tough spot: Do we maintain the status quo because it’s easier, or do we make some adjustments to improve?”
The Republican National Committee (RNC) applauded the Board's decision in a press release.
“We commend Georgia’s Election Board members for approving these crucial rules and continuing the fight for transparency and accuracy in the state’s elections. This is the nation’s most important election, and Georgia has sent a clear message: ballots will be protected, and cheating won’t be tolerated,” said RNC Chairman Michael Whatley.
On the other hand, the Democratic National Committee (DNC) strongly opposed the change.
“This is just a last-minute move by Donald Trump and his ‘pit bulls’ to delay the ballot counting process so they can attack and question any outcome they disagree with,” DNC Chairman Jamie Harrison argued.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, also voiced concerns about the timing of the rule during an interview with CNN.
“We’re too close to the election,” he commented a day before the vote. “We’re 50 days out from the election. In fact, early voting starts in just three weeks, and it’s simply too late to implement such a change.”
State Election Board chairman John Fervier, an independent who voted against the rule, echoed similar concerns.
“Most election officials who have contacted me are opposed to this,” Fervier said. “I believe it’s too close to the election... and more importantly, I don’t think this is supported by current law.”
However, many Republicans celebrated the decision on social media platform X (formerly Twitter).
“BREAKING: The Georgia State Elections Board just passed a ruling requiring HAND COUNTING of all ballots this November before the election’s certification. This is a huge victory for election integrity. I’m incredibly proud of my home state today,” said CJ Pearson, co-chair of the GOP Youth Advisory Council.
“WOW! This board has been on fire recently. The Democrat member tried to block the rule by arguing that election rules shouldn’t change 90 days before an election, but Janelle King shut that down quickly. Democrats changed rules illegally during Covid in 2020, but now they complain when the State Election Board does it legally. IRONIC! These straightforward rules will stop election fraud in its tracks. I believe Trump will win Georgia, and if there’s any cheating, we now have mechanisms to prevent certification until it’s corrected,” another X user commented.
“BREAKING: In a 3-2 vote, the Georgia State Election Board passes an essential reconciliation rule that will require hand-counting ballots at the precinct level on election night… to ensure the physical ballot count matches the machine tally. Big win for election integrity in Georgia!” added another.