A Georgia judge on Wednesday blocked a set of election rules backed by pro-Trump Republicans, delivering another legal setback for Trump allies seeking to alter election procedures in the state ahead of the critical November 2024 presidential election. Judge Thomas Cox invalidated six election rule changes passed by Georgia's Republican-controlled state election board, Democrats argued would obstruct the certification of results in a closely contested battleground state.
According to Judge Cox, the new rules contravened Georgia's Election Code: they "exceed or are in conflict with specific provisions of the Election Code." She instructed the election board to rescind the new rules immediately and notify election officials that they were invalid.
This is in the wake of Georgia experiencing a record rate of early voting this week; the state is part of several crucial battlegrounds in the upcoming race between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Donald Trump. As the presidential election approaches on November 5, both parties are bracing for tight results in swing states like Georgia, which was pivotal in the election last year.
That would be the third legal setback for Trump's allies in two days. Earlier this week, another judge blocked a rule that would have required Georgia poll workers to count ballots by hand, while ruling that counties must certify their election results as required by law.
Eternal Vigilance Action, a conservative advocacy group, had filed the case that resulted in the ruling by Cox. The group argued the election board had overstepped its authority under law. Rules to be contested would have given county election boards both the power to investigate discrepancies between numbers of voters and ballots cast as well as to examine documents before certifying election results. He said the Trump allies in the election board argued that these actions would bolster election security, with no facts supporting in-state voter fraud on a statewide level in Georgia.
One of his predecessors, Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, had earlier complained about these late changes, saying they would undermine voter confidence and create avoidable burdens for election officials.
Bipartisan opposition also met the board's 3-2 decision to adopt the rules, moved by Trump supporters. Democrats argued that the changes are aimed at delaying or blocking certification of unfavorable results to Trump, a tactic they have challenged in court. The Democratic National Committee separately has filed a lawsuit accusing the board of attempting to misuse the certification process to investigate unfounded claims about electoral irregularities. The DNC case remains pending.
The new measures were defended by the board's Republicans who said it is aimed to make elections more secure and transparent. Trump, who ran his presidential campaign again in 2024 commended all of his allies on the board.
Georgia is a centerpiece state in the 2024 presidential race, and with time, it will be a series of fights in court over who controls election rules. The two parties will continue to fight over every vote while scurrying toward an election that may determine which path America will take politically.
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