Georgia Election Board Approves Controversial Hand-Counting Rule for 2024 Presidential Election
The Georgia State Election Board has approved a new rule that could have significant implications for one of the most closely watched swing states in the 2024 presidential election. In a narrow 3-2 vote, the board mandated that all paper ballots must be counted by hand on election night, a decision praised by former President Donald Trump but criticized by both Democrats and some high-ranking Republicans.
The new rule, which requires three poll workers to hand-count each paper ballot until their counts match, has sparked concerns about delays in reporting election results. According to the Associated Press, if a scanner contains more than 750 ballots at the close of voting, poll managers can delay the count until the next day, adding further complications.
Backlash From State Officials
While Trump and his allies see the rule as a win for election integrity, key state officials like Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Attorney General Chris Carr have voiced strong opposition. During an interview with NBC News, Raffensperger expressed concerns about the rule’s impact on the efficiency of Georgia’s election process. “We consider these major changes to the election process,” Raffensperger stated. “Everything we’ve done in the last six years has been to speed up the process to give voters results quicker, and now this will slow things down.”
Attorney General Chris Carr’s office further challenged the legality of the rule, noting in a memo to election board members that it lacks a legal basis. The memo argues that hand-counting ballots at precincts before delivering them to county election superintendents for official tallying is “not tethered to any statute” and likely represents an overreach of the board’s authority.
Trump Allies Celebrate
Former Trump spokesperson Liz Harrington took to social media platform X to celebrate the decision, writing, “GREAT NEWS! GA State Election Board passes 3-2 resolution 181-1-12-.12 … HAND COUNT at precinct level to ensure the totals match with the machines. This is a HUGE win and was opposed by the Fake News, the Left, and Raffensperger.”
The move comes as Georgia remains a focal point of election integrity debates. Trump and his supporters have long questioned the integrity of the 2020 election in the state, which saw a narrow flip to President Joe Biden. Allegations of absentee ballot mishandling and questions about signature verification have kept Georgia at the center of Trump’s claims that the election was tainted, particularly in Democratic-leaning areas like Fulton County.
The 2020 Election and Georgia’s New Rule
The last presidential election in Georgia was heavily scrutinized by Trump and his legal team, who argued that absentee ballots weren’t properly verified and that some ballots were counted after the legal deadline. Trump’s supporters demanded recounts and audits to ensure transparency, with a video from Atlanta’s State Farm Arena showing election workers processing ballots after poll watchers had left, adding to the controversy.
While a hand recount and a machine recount reaffirmed Biden’s victory in the state by approximately 12,000 votes, questions about election integrity in Georgia continue to linger among Trump’s base. The new rule is seen as a response to those lingering doubts, aimed at ensuring that hand-counted totals match machine totals, though it is expected to cause delays in an already complex election process.
As the 2024 election approaches, Georgia’s status as a swing state remains crucial, and this new rule will likely add to the drama and tension on election night. Whether the rule improves voter confidence or adds unnecessary chaos is a debate that is sure to continue.