Georgia is a critical swing state in the 2024 election as it was in 2020 when Joe Biden won a narrow victory, which became the linchpin for Donald Trump’s mendacious — and deadly — election denialism.
You could even make the case it is more important this year. Current polling shows Kamala Harris can win the Presidency without Georgia’s 16 electoral votes. Donald Trump can’t.
This is the explanation for the many rule changes the Georgia State Election Board, with its MAGA Republican majority have tried to get in place. They don’t want their candidate to have to call Georgia’s Secretary of State, Brad Raffensperger again and beg him to find 11,780 as he did in 2020.
Many of these rules have been challenged in court. Here are seven that have been invalidated by the Georgia Supreme Court (via Democracy Docket).
Hand Count Rule (Passed on Sept. 20): Would have required three election workers to unseal every box of ballots printed from scanner machines at a polling location and hand count them to ensure that their counts match the machine totals. This rule would’ve required election workers to count the total number of ballots, but not which candidate received more votes.
Daily Reporting Rule (Passed on Sept. 20): Would have required counties to issue a daily report with details of which voters have cast their votes early or through absentee ballots.
Poll Watcher Rule (Passed on Sept. 20): Would have increased the number of designated locations where poll watchers may observe the election process. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox permanently blocked this rule on Oct. 16.
Examination Rule (Passed on Aug. 19): Allows individual county election board members to “examine all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections prior to certification of results.” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox permanently blocked this rule on Oct. 16.
Reasonable Inquiry Rule (Passed on Aug. 6): States that a county board can only certify an election “after reasonable inquiry that the tabulation and canvassing of the election are complete and accurate and that the results are a true and accurate accounting of all votes cast in that election.” Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Coxpermanently blocked this rule on Oct. 16.
Drop Box Rule (Passed on Aug. 6): Requires voters who drop off an absentee ballot at a drop box location to provide a signature, photo ID, and, if applicable, evidence of their relationship to the person whose ballot they are submitting. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox permanently blocked this rule on Oct. 16.
The Surveillance Rule (Passed on Aug. 6): Requires video surveillance at ballot drop boxes and states that ballots placed in non-monitored drop boxes should not be counted. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox permanently blocked this rule on Oct. 16.
Georgia’s has a long history of using the legal system to thwart the will of the people. When it comes to history in Georgia the best person to talk to is James Cobb, Spalding Professor of History Emeritus at the University of Georgia. Take 25 minutes to listen and get to know about the political history and changing demographics of a state that is critical to the outcome of Election 2024. A state where they will be counting the vote for quite a while after November 5th.
This is the second of my dispatches from Georgia and North Carolina. Both states are critical to Donald Trump and Kamala Harris’s hopes of winning the election. And both are competitive according to opinion polls but, as you can tell, I prefer to gather my own facts.
I plan to stay here through the counting of the vote, which promises to be fraught, particularly in Georgia but I need your financial help to do it. Here’s how:
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