Georgia Election Board Approves Rule Requiring Hand Count of Ballots

Georgia's State Election Board members discuss proposals to a full room for election rule changes at the state capitol in Atlanta on Sept. 20, 2024. Mike Stewart/AP Photo

The Georgia Election Board has approved a new rule requiring election workers to hand count ballots in the November election and confirm that the numbers match machine counts before the vote can be certified.

The rule, which was first proposed in August, passed in a 3–2 vote on the morning of Sept. 20, making Georgia the only state in the union to adopt such a requirement as part of its standard vote-counting.

The new hand-count regulation was, at the time of reporting, the first of 11 that the board was set to vote on Friday. The others include a proposal that absentee ballots be visually distinct from other types of ballots, and another that requires poll workers to record the number of ballots cast from in-person scanners and reconcile those numbers to ensure accurate reporting of votes.

Advocates have framed the proposed rules as common-sense measures to bolster election security. Supporters of the hand-count rule, specifically, have argued it would help increase public trust in the voting process.

Critics, such as the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials (GAVREO), say the proposed rules are, on the whole, impractical, poorly written, and inefficient in achieving their intended goals.

“We respectfully ask that these proposed rules, and any other petitions for rulemaking, be tabled until 2025,” the group wrote in a Sept. 17 letter to the election board.

GAVREO also expressed specific concern about the new hand-count rule, arguing in the letter that it could cause delays and introduce errors.

“We continue to oppose the rules for the reasons we have previously stated including: the rule’s potential to delay results; set fatigued employees up for failure; and undermine the very confidence the rule’s author claims to seek,” the group wrote.

Chris Carr, Georgia’s Attorney General, issued a letter on Sept. 18 stating that the proposed rules may be inconsistent with existing laws.

“A review of the proposed rules reveals several issues including that several of the proposed rules, if passed, very likely exceed the Board’s statutory authority and in some instances appear to conflict with the statutes governing the conduct of elections,” he wrote. “Where such is the case, and as outlined below, the Board risks passing rules that may easily be challenged and determined to be invalid.”

The letter from Carr’s office addressed the hand-count rule, stating that the statutes referenced in support of the rule do not allow for hand-counting ballots at the precinct level before they are delivered to the election superintendent for official tabulation.

“Accordingly, these proposed rules are not tethered to any statute—and are, therefore, likely the precise type of impermissible legislation that agencies cannot do,” the letter states.

Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has also expressed concern that last-minute rule changes could introduce confusion on election night.

“Activists seeking to impose last-minute changes in election procedures outside of the legislative process undermine voter confidence and burden election workers,” he said in a statement in mid-August.

At a rally in August in Atlanta, former President Donald Trump praised the three Republican members of the Georgia Election Board, calling them “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory.”

The Epoch Times has reached out to the Georgia Election Board with a request for comment on the criticism of the hand-count rule and the other proposals.