Georgia Judge Rules County Officials Can’t Delay, Decline to Certify

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Georgia law requires county election superintendents to certify election results by 5 p.m. on the Monday following the election.

A Georgia judge has ruled that county election officials must certify election results by the statutory deadline regardless of irregularities or suspected fraud.

Georgia law requires county election superintendents to certify election results by 5 p.m. on the Monday following the election—or the Tuesday, if the date falls on a federal holiday, as it does this year.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled on Oct. 14 that election officials must stick to that deadline.

“No election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance,” the judge wrote in his opinion.

McBurney added that if a superintendent should determine a need for additional information from the elections board or his or her own staff, that information should be provided “promptly,” where unprotected by law.

“However, any delay in receiving such information is not a basis for refusing to certify the election results or abstaining from doing so,” he wrote.