The Georgia State Election Board has instituted a rule for the upcoming presidential election requiring a hand count of the number of ballots at the polling place on election day. The controversial decision was passed with a 3-2 vote among the board’s members, as a pro-Trump majority carried the day against a Democratic and independent minority. Under the new rule, counties will be required to hand-count the number of votes on election night to ensure that it matches the tally of the voting machines (hand-counters will not be checking any candidate’s votes, just the total number of votes cast).
State officials from both parties have objected to the change on numerous grounds. Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, has warned the board that state law does not allow for poll workers to hand-count ballots before they are officially counted by machine. Carr’s office also noted that that longstanding judicial precedent goes against implementing such changes so close to an election, which even on its own leaves the board vulnerable to a judge blocking their decision. Indeed, with just 44 days until election day, poll workers have already been trained. Others have also noted that the change actually increases the possibility for vote tampering, as poll workers will have to break the seal on ballot boxes for a hand-count, as opposed to leaving them sealed and safely secured unless a recount is ordered.
This is the latest move in a years-long push from the Trump allies and supporters to get involved with the election process after Donald Trump’s loss to Joe Biden in 2020, which to this day many of his supporters believe was stolen. An investigation from Rolling Stone estimates that “nearly 70 pro-Trump election conspiracists” are now working as election officials at the county level across 6 swing states, and finds that since Trump’s loss in 2020, such officials have “refused to certify election results at least 25 times.”
Trump recently appeared to finally accept the outcome 2020 election, stating in an interview last month that his campaign had lost “by a whisker.” However, when questioned about the comment in his debate with Kamala Harris, he claimed that he had been speaking “sarcastically” and that he did not accept the results, implying that the election was rigged against him: “there’s so much proof. All you have to do is look at it.” Over 60 lawsuits filed by the Trump campaign at the time alleging election fraud went nowhere, many of them thrown out of court by Republican judges.
It remains to be seen whether the judicial system will react similarly in 2024 now that election-denying Trump supporters have enmeshed themselves in the election process.
