A Georgia judge issued a declaration on Tuesday that the 2024 presidential election result must be certified by an “immovable deadline” of Nov. 12 after two recent rules passed by the state Board of Elections were challenged by Democrats.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that the Georgia election results must be certified by a Nov. 12 deadline, one week after the Nov. 5 Election Day. The Georgia Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee challenged two recent rule changes by state election officials that they warned could lead to delays in the certification of the results and to chaos.
At issue was a rule that would give Georgia county officials the discretion to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” of ballots before certifying the results. The second rule passed by the state’s election board permits election officials to examine all election-related documentation before certification. Both were passed by 3-2 votes, with Republican members of the election board in the majority.
“To be clear, there are no limits placed on this investigation (other than, of course, the immovable deadline for certification, discussed below). Thus, within a mandatory ministerial task — thou shalt certify! — there are discretionary subtasks. The freedom allowed with the subtasks does not convert the overarching fixed obligation into a discretionary role,” McBurney wrote in an 11-page decision.
The judge’s decision made no clear mention of either rule but made a firm declaration that no delays to the hard deadline to certify results may occur.
The declaration from the judge came on the first day of early voting in the Peach State, and it came 15 days after the judge heard arguments over the dispute at a trial.
During an Oct. 1 trial over the pair of rules, McBurney signaled a degree of skepticism toward Democratic plaintiffs’ arguments that these rules would obstruct the certification process.
McBurney asked attorneys from both parties if they agreed that the certification of election results must be done by a Nov. 12 deadline, and parties agreed to that stipulation.
“What we’re debating about is what [superintendents] can do in the period leading up to certification, and whether we call that work ministerial or discretionary,” McBurney said.
However, McBurney’s decision could sow doubt about the measures that the Georgia State Board of Elections passed as a means for election integrity. The rules at this point are effectively symbolic in that they provide no pathway to postpone certification of the election results in the event that some county officials may find issue with the ballots.
Former President Donald Trump, who raised doubts about President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state, has praised board members Janice Johnston, Janelle King, and Rick Jeffares for pushing rule changes aimed at promoting “honesty, transparency, and victory.”
It’s unclear at this time whether the board will seek review from an appeals court over the judge’s decision on Tuesday.
Gabriel Sterling, a Republican chief operating officer for the Georgia secretary of state, called the judge’s declaration “great news!”
“The judge ruled that county election board members in Georgia MUST certify elections. Another step in keeping guardrails in place to safeguard our elections,” Sterling said.
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A separate lawsuit is still pending over an additional rule change made by the state elections board, which includes a provision that would allow county officials to hand-count ballots the night of the election in addition to the required machine count.
The Washington Examiner contacted a representative for the board.