{"id":115320,"date":"2024-10-17T21:26:51","date_gmt":"2024-10-17T14:26:51","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=115320"},"modified":"2024-10-17T21:26:51","modified_gmt":"2024-10-17T14:26:51","slug":"georgia-judge-tosses-7-new-election-rules-passed-by-trump-backed-state-board","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=115320","title":{"rendered":"Georgia judge tosses 7 new election rules passed by Trump-backed state board"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<p>A Georgia judge has declared that seven new election rules recently passed by the State Election Board are \u201c<a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2024\/10\/16\/georgia-rule-election-day-ballots-hand-counted-after-close-voting-tossed-judge\/\" target=\"_self\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ  \" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/fortune.com\/2024\/10\/16\/georgia-rule-election-day-ballots-hand-counted-after-close-voting-tossed-judge\/\" rel=\"noopener\">illegal, unconstitutional and void<\/a>.\u201d<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox issued the order Wednesday after holding a hearing on challenges to the rules. The rules that Cox invalidated include three that had gotten a lot of attention \u2014 one that requires that the number of ballots be hand-counted after the close of polls and two that had to do with the certification of election results.<\/p>\n<p>Cox found that the rules are \u201cunsupported by Georgia\u2019s Election Code and are in fact contrary to the Election Code.\u201d He also wrote that the State Election Board did not have authority to pass them. He ordered the board to immediately remove the rules and to inform all state and local election officials that the rules are void and not to be followed.<\/p>\n<p>The Associated Press has reached out to the lawyers for the State Election Board, as well as the three Republican members who had supported the rules, seeking comment on the judge\u2019s ruling. They could appeal but time is running short with less than three weeks to go until Election Day.<\/p>\n<p>The State Election Board, which is controlled by\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-state-election-board-0141f8011dc9e7c054ed73f63dbf5f58\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ  \" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-state-election-board-0141f8011dc9e7c054ed73f63dbf5f58\" rel=\"noopener\">three Republicans<\/a>\u00a0endorsed by former President Donald Trump, has passed numerous rules in recent months mostly dealing with the processes that happen after ballots are cast. Trump narrowly lost Georgia to Democrat Joe Biden in the 2020 presidential election but claimed without proof that widespread fraud cost him victory in the state.<\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-democrats-state-election-board-rules-republicans-74017952697aa0db904fc043d94ada5c\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ  \" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-democrats-state-election-board-rules-republicans-74017952697aa0db904fc043d94ada5c\" rel=\"noopener\">Democratic Party organizations<\/a>, local election officials and\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-hand-count-ballots-election-board-lawsuit-a9b997bbdd0f801e5904ffc965eb4a57\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ  \" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-hand-count-ballots-election-board-lawsuit-a9b997bbdd0f801e5904ffc965eb4a57\" rel=\"noopener\">a group headed<\/a>\u00a0by a former Republican state lawmaker have filed at least half a dozen lawsuits over the rules. Democrats, voting rights groups and some legal experts\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-state-election-board-trump-certification-results-e57ac093c90acfff26fea04db91d04df\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ  \" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-state-election-board-trump-certification-results-e57ac093c90acfff26fea04db91d04df\" rel=\"noopener\">have raised concerns<\/a>\u00a0that some rules could be used by Trump allies to delay or avoid certification or to cast doubt on results if he loses next month\u2019s presidential election to Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris.<\/p>\n<p>Cox\u2019s ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Eternal Vigilance Action, which was founded and led by former state Rep. Scot Turner, a Republican. The organization had argued that the State Election Board overstepped its authority in adopting the rules.<\/p>\n<p>Reached by phone Wednesday evening, Turner said he was \u201cthrilled with the victory.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>\u201cIt was a complete and total victory for the Constitution of the United States,\u201d he said. \u201cThese rules were opposed by citizens that are Republican, as well as Democrats and independents. This is not about party. It\u2019s about doing what\u2019s constitutional and reestablishing separation of powers, and that\u2019s something that every conservative in this country should be concerned with and support.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>One new rule that the judge blocked requires that three separate poll workers count the number of Election Day ballots by hand to make sure the number of paper ballots matches the electronic tallies on scanners, check-in computers and voting machines.<\/p>\n<p>Georgia voters make selections on a touchscreen voting machine that prints out a piece of paper with a human-readable list of the voter\u2019s choices as well as a QR code. That is the ballot that the voter puts into a scanner, which records the votes. The hand-count would be of the paper ballots \u2014 not the votes.<\/p>\n<p>Critics, including many county election officials, argued that a hand-count could slow the reporting of election results and put an extra burden on poll workers at the end of an already long day. They also said there isn\u2019t enough time to adequately train poll workers.<\/p>\n<p>The rule\u2019s supporters argued the count would take extra minutes, not hours. They also noted that scanner memory cards with the vote tallies could be sent to central tabulation centers in each county while the hand-count is completed so the reporting of results would not be slowed.<\/p>\n<p>Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney on Tuesday had temporarily\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-election-rules-certification-03f6bc623d9f6aeeb3f9dc47823d03f9\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ  \" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-election-rules-certification-03f6bc623d9f6aeeb3f9dc47823d03f9\" rel=\"noopener\">blocked the hand-count<\/a>\u00a0for the November election while he considers the legal merits. He said the hand-count may ultimately prove to be good policy, but it\u2019s too close to the general election to implement it now.<\/p>\n<p>Cox wrote that the rule \u201cis nowhere authorized\u201d by Georgia laws, which \u201cproscribe the duties of poll officers after the polls close. Hand counting is not among them.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Two other new rules that Cox invalidated were passed by the State Election Board in August and have to do with certification. One provides a definition of certification that includes\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-elections-voting-trump-certification-c934f4df74bd2307a1f57930359fb0f3\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ  \" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-elections-voting-trump-certification-c934f4df74bd2307a1f57930359fb0f3\" rel=\"noopener\">requiring county officials to conduct a \u201creasonable inquiry\u201d<\/a>\u00a0before certifying results, but it does not specify what that means. The other\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-elections-certification-rule-26551bd40f5a246035bc3d4c06e4d9b9\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ  \" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-elections-certification-rule-26551bd40f5a246035bc3d4c06e4d9b9\" rel=\"noopener\">includes language<\/a>\u00a0allowing county election officials \u201cto examine all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Supporters\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-state-election-board-rules-certification-trial-3b478ece3ed6437f0bc8499c77341bec\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ  \" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-state-election-board-rules-certification-trial-3b478ece3ed6437f0bc8499c77341bec\" rel=\"noopener\">argued those rules are necessary<\/a>\u00a0to ensure the accuracy of the vote totals before county election officials sign off on them. Critics said they could be used to delay or deny certification.<\/p>\n<p>The first certification rule is not part of Georgia law and \u201cadds an additional and undefined step into the certification process,\u201d Cox wrote, saying it is thus \u201cinconsistent with and unsupported by\u201d Georgia law, making it \u201cvoid and unenforceable.\u201d The second rule is \u201cdirectly inconsistent\u201d with Georgia law, \u201cwhich provides the time, manner, and method in which election-related documents must be produced and maintained,\u201d he wrote.<\/p>\n<p>The other rules Cox said are illegal and unconstitutional are ones that: require someone delivering an absentee ballot in person to provide a signature and photo ID; demand video surveillance and recording of ballot drop boxes after polls close during early voting; expand the mandatory designated areas where partisan poll watchers can stand at tabulation centers; and require daily public updates of the number of votes cast during early voting.<\/p>\n<p>At least half a dozen lawsuits had been filed challenging some or all of the new rules. The Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of Georgia had filed two lawsuits and joined others. Election boards in some counties and individual election officials in other counties had also sued.<\/p>\n<p>Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the state\u2019s top elections official,\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-elections-voting-hand-count-raffensperger-730c77c8a14954308c95474022b39d74\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ  \" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-elections-voting-hand-count-raffensperger-730c77c8a14954308c95474022b39d74\" rel=\"noopener\">has said<\/a>\u00a0the last-minute nature of the rules creates confusion for voters and poll workers and can undermine confidence in election results. An\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-state-election-board-rules-412ad7544d9002fb2a548c62f4210158\" target=\"_blank\" class=\"sc-93594058-0 fowfrQ  \" aria-label=\"Go to https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-state-election-board-rules-412ad7544d9002fb2a548c62f4210158\" rel=\"noopener\">association of county election officials<\/a>\u00a0also asked the state board to tap the brakes on new rules.<\/p>\n<p>And in a memo last month, the office of state Attorney General Chris Carr, also a Republican, warned that some rules appeared to conflict with existing law.<\/p>\n<\/div>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/fortune.com\/2024\/10\/17\/georgia-judge-election-rules-trump-state-board-illegal-unconstitutional-void\/\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>A Georgia judge has declared that seven new election rules recently passed by the State Election Board are \u201cillegal, unconstitutional and void.\u201d Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox issued &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=115320\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8629],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-115320","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-u-s","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115320","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=115320"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/115320\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=115320"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=115320"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=115320"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}