Georgia’s Election Board has introduced a new rule requiring counties to manually count paper ballots on Election Day, despite opposition from state officials and concerns about potential delays. The decision, made in a 3-2 vote, mandates that each paper ballot be counted by hand by three separate poll workers until all three counts match. If a scanner contains more than 750 ballots at the end of voting, the poll manager will decide whether to recount the next day.
The move has been met with criticism from the state’s attorney general’s office, the secretary of state’s office, and an association of county election officials. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger warned that the new rule would cause “chaos” and slow down the voting process. “We’ve spent the last six years trying to speed up the process to get results to voters quicker, and now we’re adding an element that will take longer,” he said.
Other critics, including the Georgia election board’s chair, John Fervier, and Democrat Sara Tindall Ghazal, argued that the new rule would be an added step that could delay the presidential election results. Fervier, appointed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, expressed concerns about the feasibility of implementing the rule so close to the election. “I want to make it clear that we’re going against the advice of our legal counsel by voting in favor of this rule,” he said.
However, the decision has been praised by former President Donald Trump and several other Republicans, including Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene. Greene took to social media to express her support, saying “Way to go, GA State Election Board!! Thank you for taking every step to fight for election integrity!!”
Proponents of the rule, such as board member Janelle King, argue that it will actually improve the integrity of the election process. “I think it’s going to be the reverse of what people are saying,” King said. “We won’t have situations where candidates are disputing the count or requesting audits because we’ll have caught any issues early on.”
The move comes after concerns were raised about the handling of ballots during the 2020 election. Last year, the Secretary of State’s office admitted that there were issues with faulty ballots, and a spokesperson revealed that Floyd County made “many mistakes” during the election, leading to the resignation of the office’s director.
