Georgia Judge Blocks 7 Election Rules as 2024 Voting Begins

The judge found the State election Board lacked authority to implement the rules.

A Georgia judge ruled Wednesday that the State election Board had no authority to implement seven new rules impacting certification, absentee ballots, and vote counting.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox voided the seven challenged rules, finding that they violated state law, the Georgia Constitution, and the U.S. Constitution, and that the State election Board “had no authority” to implement them.

“The Court here declares that these rules are illegal, unconstitutional, and void,” Cox wrote in his ruling.

Three of the seven rules received considerable attention—one requiring that the number of ballots be hand-counted after the close of polls and two regarding the certification of election results. Another judge had temporarily halted the hand-count rule the day before.

The State election Board, which has a Republican majority, had passed several rules in recent months, mostly related to processes that occur after ballots are cast.

Cox ruled that the Georgia General Assembly did not provide sufficient guidelines for the State election Board’s rulemaking process and that the board was not authorized to regulate federal elections.

The judge also noted that the rules, which were issued just one month before early voting began on Oct. 15, were contrary to provisions of Georgia’s election Code.

This ruling was issued just weeks ahead of the Nov. 5 election.

This is a developing story and will be updated.