by Misty Severi
The Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Georgia Republican Party on Thursday appealed a judge’s decision that invalidated seven election rules passed by the state’s election board.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox on Wednesday determined that the new rules are “illegal, unconstitutional and void,” because the state board did not have the authority to create such orders.
Alex Kaufman, a lawyer for the state Republican Party, said on Thursday that the RNC and state party filed an emergency appeal of the ruling to the state Supreme Court, according to the Associated Press.
RNC Chairman Michael Whatley slammed the court order in a statement, accusing the judge of exemplifying “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 said. “We have immediately appealed this egregious order to ensure commonsense rules are in place for the election – we will not let this stand.”
Among the new rules that were overturned are one that required three poll workers to count the ballots by hand, one that required county election officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying election results, and one that would allow officials “to examine all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections.”
Supporters of the rules have claimed that they are necessary to ensure the accuracy of the vote counts. But critics have claimed they would take too long, and could be used to deny certification of the election results.
– – –
Misty Severi is a reporter for Just the News.
Photo “People Voting” by Tim Evanson. CC BY-SA 2.0.
