A Georgia judge has ruled that county election officials must certify election results by the deadline set in law and cannot exclude votes from certification even if they suspect error or fraud

A Georgia judge has ruled county election officials must certify election results by the deadline set in law and cannot exclude any group of votes from certification even if they suspect error or fraud.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that “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.” While they have the right to inspect the conduct of an election and to review related documents, he wrote, “any delay in receiving such information is not a basis for refusing to certify the election results or abstaining from doing so.”

Georgia law says county election superintendents, which are multimember boards in most counties, “shall” certify election results by 5 p.m. on the Monday after an election — or the Tuesday if Monday is a holiday as it is this year.

  • xlash123@sh.itjust.works
    601·
    1 month ago

    This is definitely going to be used by election deniers to say “See, they really don’t want fair elections.” I’m not sure I really understand the role of election certification if it has to happen regardless by law. What is to be done in the case of real election interference or fraud?

    Edit: Turns out reading the article can help 😅

    Judge McBurney wrote that nothing in Georgia law gives county election officials the authority to determine that fraud has occurred or what should be done about it. Instead, he wrote, the law says a county election official’s “concerns about fraud or systemic error are to be noted and shared with the appropriate authorities but they are not a basis for a superintendent to decline to certify.”