Court Blocks Georgia’s New Hand Counting Rule in Victory for Voters

ATLANTA — A state court today permanently blocked the Georgia State Election Board’s new rule requiring the hand counting of ballots in the upcoming November election.

Earlier this month, a coalition of civil rights organizations intervened in a lawsuit challenging the rule. The intervenors, the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP and Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, argued that the rule would invite error and cause delays, making it much harder for the state to meet the certification deadline and jeopardizing the right to vote.

The groups are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Georgia, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and law firm Morgan Lewis.

The groups were in court today making their case, in which the judge agreed and permanently blocked the rule, along with several other disruptive and unlawful changes to election rules that were recently adopted by the Georgia State Election Board.

The following is a joint comment from counsel in response to the ruling:

“This is a huge victory for Georgia voters. This was an eleventh-hour, needless rule that would have undermined the will of the voters. We are grateful the court stepped in to stop the Georgia State Election Board from its unlawful attempt to inject chaos and confusion into Georgia elections. With two opinions in two days making it clear that the board’s actions are wrong and dangerous, we are excited for Georgians to now turn their focus to casting a ballot in this election. These rulings support our democracy and voters.”

The ruling is online here.