Georgia Supreme Court Rejects GOP Bid to Reinstate State Election Rules

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The state’s election rules, recently passed by the State Election Board, will not be implemented during this election cycle.

The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday rejected the GOP’s bid to restore seven election rules recently passed by the State Election Board, which had previously been struck down by a judge.

The Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Georgia Republican Party had filed a petition on Oct. 17 appealing a previous ruling from Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox that deemed the rules unconstitutional.

The State Election Board (SEB) approved the rules on Sept. 20. They require paper ballots to be hand-counted on Election Day or the day after to ensure the totals match those from the electronic voting system.

Under the rules, the board would need to conduct “a reasonable inquiry” into the election results before certifying the election, and board members would have access to all election-related documentation.

In a one-page order issued on Oct. 22, the court unanimously denied the motion to reinstate the state election rules and rejected the GOP’s request for an expedited appeal, blocking the RNC’s efforts to restore the rules ahead of the upcoming election.

“When the appeal is docketed in this Court, it will proceed in the ordinary cause,” the justices stated in the order, without providing a reason for the decision.

The order means the state’s rules will not be implemented during this election cycle. Eternal Vigilance Action, which challenged the rules, said the court’s order was “another victory against administrative overreach.”

Eternal Vigilance Action filed the lawsuit on Sept. 25, arguing that the board overstepped its bounds by issuing the rules. The nonprofit was founded and led by former state Rep. Scot Turner.

“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 an Oct. 22 statement. “Today’s ruling should put this matter to rest, but I have no doubt that if the case moves forward through the appeals process, our winning streak will continue.”

The RNC did not respond to a request for comment by publication time.

Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon said in a statement on social media platform X that objections to the state election rules could be “damaging to public confidence in what is expected to be a closely contested election.”

“The rules adopted by the SEB to reinforce key transparency and checks and balances in Georgia law are common sense,” McKoon said. “It is supremely disappointing to observe yet another failure of our judicial system to expeditiously resolve critical questions about our elections process. … We will press our appeal next year and hope for sanity to prevail.”

In the Fulton County Superior Court ruling on Oct. 16, Cox said that the seven election rules were “illegal, unconstitutional, and void” and that the State Election Board has no authority to adopt the new rules.

The judge stated that other provisions, such as requiring a person delivering an absentee ballot to provide both a signature and photo ID, as well as demanding video surveillance and recording of ballot drop boxes after polls close during early voting, are “unenforceable” and void.

In a statement announcing the committee’s appeal on Oct. 17, RNC Chairman Michael Whatley described the court’s ruling as “the very worst of judicial activism.”

“By overturning the Georgia State Election Board’s commonsense rules passed to safeguard Georgia’s elections, the judge sided with the Democrats in their attacks on transparency, accountability, and the integrity of our elections,” Whatley stated.

Georgia, a key battleground state in the 2024 presidential election, began its early voting last week. Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer in the Georgia secretary of state’s office, said that by the afternoon of Oct. 22, more than 25 percent of the state’s 7.2 million active voters had already cast their ballots.

Jack Phillips contributed to this report.