(SRN NEWS/REUTERS) – A judge in Atlanta Tuesday temporarily halted a new rule requiring poll workers to hand count ballots in the Nov. 5 election, in a defeat for Donald Trump, whose Republican allies pushed the change after he lost the battleground state in 2020.
The hand-count rule was passed on Sept. 20 by a pro-Trump conservative majority of Georgia’s election board, who said they were attempting to make the Nov. 5 election more secure and transparent.
Democrats had said the change would sow chaos and delay results.
Georgia, where early voting began in record numbers on Tuesday, is one of seven states likely to determine the presidential contest between Trump and his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris. In 2020, Trump made false claims of widespread voting fraud in the state.
Judge Robert McBurney said in his decision on Tuesday that it was appropriate to pause the vote counting rule because it introduced fresh uncertainty into the process just weeks before Election Day.
“Anything that adds uncertainty and disorder to the electoral process disserves the public,” according to a copy of the decision posted by Democracy Docket, a website founded by Democratic lawyer Marc Elias that tracks election cases.
“The administrative chaos that will – not may – ensue is entirely inconsistent with the obligations of our boards of elections (and the State Election Board) to ensure that our elections are fair, legal, and orderly,” the judge wrote.
Representatives of the Georgia State Election Board and Republican National Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment on Tuesday.
The judge did not say the rule was illegal but that it was appropriate to pause it pending further review. An appeals court could potentially reverse the decision.