The Georgia State Election Commission voted 3-2 on Friday to require all counties in the state to manually count ballots cast at polling places on Election Day.
The three board members who voted in favor of the proposal were praised by former President Donald Trump in August. According to One Republican and one Democrat voted against the bill, they told The Associated Press.
The vote was welcomed by many Republicans.
Great news!
The Georgia State Board of Elections passed Resolution 181-1-12-.12 by a 3-2 vote.
A manual count at the precinct level to ensure the totals match the machine numbers
This is a big win, one that the Fake News, the Left and Raffensperger all opposed. pic.twitter.com/12FxvV9Tf4
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) September 20, 2024
“YEAH!!! Well done Georgia State Election Commission!! Thank you for fighting for election integrity with every fiber of your being!!” tweeted Georgia Republican Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene.
yes!!!
Well done, Georgia State Election Commission!!
Thank you for fighting in every way possible for election fairness!! https://t.co/i0FydyGpXF— Marjorie Taylor Greene 🇺🇸 (@mtgreenee) September 20, 2024
Board Chairman John Favier said in a video that he opposes the proposal.
“Voting in favor would be going against the advice of our legal counsel,” he said. (RELATED: Exclusive: Republicans introduce bill that would reaffirm House commitment to ensuring safe elections)
ATLANTA, GEORGIA – MARCH 12: Voters visit the Park Tavern polling place to cast their ballots for the primary election in Atlanta, Georgia, on March 12, 2024. President Biden (Democrat) and former President Donald Trump (right) are the leading candidates. (Photo by Megan Varner/The Washington Post)
Verviers pointed to a statement by Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr that such a rule “is not bound by any law and therefore likely represents the exact type of unlawful legislation that a government agency cannot make,” and that it may be too close to the 2024 election to be changed, CNN reported. Reported.
“The thing I want to address before we take a verbal vote is, Mr. Chairman, every time you say this may be illegal, you are welcoming a lawsuit. A lawsuit that will be dismissed… I've read in our rules what we can and can't do. There's no room for debate,” Janelle King, another Republican on the Georgia State Election Board, said in the video.
King previously pointed out that the code gives the commission the power to make Georgia's election rules uniform, saying that because counties have historically varied on whether they count paper ballots, the commission has the power to set one rule that all counties must follow without violating the law.
Fervier responded to King's challenge to his comments in the video by saying, “I'm not going to correct your comments.”
“Everyone I've personally spoken to is against it. [the rule change]”Simply put, this is bullshit,” Sarah Tyndall, the committee's only Democrat, told CNN. Bryce Berry, Democratic candidate for State House District 56, tweeted:
Simply put…this is bullshit. https://t.co/NaVasxB9jW
— Georgia HD 56's Bryce Berry (@BerryforGA) September 20, 2024
Saira Draper, a Democrat in the state Assembly and elections attorney for DeKalb County, criticized the vote, saying it “calls into question whether the members of the board are operating in good faith,” The Washington Post reported. Reported“Implementing 11, no, 12 new rules just days before Election Day is a fraud. We're setting counties up to fail. How do we know they will fail? Because they say so.”
