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The stakes are high in Georgia, with its 16 electoral votes being pivotal in the 2024 presidential election. Early voter turnout has already surged, with state election official Gabriel Sterling announcing that 25% of Georgia’s active voters have cast their ballots. The state’s election could play a key role in determining whether Trump or Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris secures victory.
While the court’s conservative majority issued the ruling, it was a technical decision rather than a judgment on the legality of the rules themselves. The justices declined to overturn a lower court decision from last week that had blocked the rules, allowing the legal challenge to proceed. The Georgia Supreme Court also rejected a Republican request to fast-track the case, signaling that it will proceed through the usual legal channels.
The challenge to the rules was initiated by the election watchdog group, Eternal Vigilance Action. In a ruling last week, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox sided with the group, declaring that the new regulations were “illegal, unconstitutional, and void.” Judge Cox stated that the Georgia State Election Board did not have the authority to implement the rules in the first place.
Republicans, including the Republican National Committee and the Georgia Republican Party, swiftly appealed the ruling to the state Supreme Court. They requested an emergency intervention to reinstate the rules before early voting was in full swing. In a legal filing last week, Republican attorneys argued that “this court’s ruling on the stay issue effectively decides whether these new regulations will be in effect for early voting, and possibly for the 2024 election altogether.”
Scot Turner, a former Republican state lawmaker and executive director of Eternal Vigilance Action, expressed satisfaction with the court’s decision. “The court victories this week and last should eliminate any doubt about the merits of our arguments,” Turner said. He explained that while he is a Republican, his organization prioritizes the integrity of Georgia’s Constitution over partisan loyalty.
“I’m a Republican and this is a conservative policy organization. I do not like fighting my friends, but in this instance, fealty to the Georgia Constitution demands it,” Turner said in a statement. “True conservatives oppose empowering an administrative state that’s not directly accountable to voters. This is another win for principle that only the people’s elected constitutional officers have the power to make law.”
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In a separate but related ruling, another Georgia judge halted a provision requiring hand-counting ballots. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled last week that the rule would create “administrative chaos,” and concluded that it was incompatible with the obligations of the state’s boards of elections. Judge McBurney emphasized that Georgia’s election processes must be “fair, legal, and orderly.”
For now, the contested rules will remain off the table, and Georgia’s election will proceed under its current legal framework. The battle over these regulations, however, is far from over, as the legal challenges will continue to play out in the courts. Both sides are bracing for further confrontations as the 2024 election intensifies.
