The Georgia State Election Board will require that the number of ballots counted in the Nov. 5 presidential election doesn’t surpass the number of voters who cast ballots, in a move narrowly approved Monday.
The election board voted 3-2 after more than three hours of heated debate on what proponents contend was a commonsense election reform.
Bridget Thorne, who was elected in 2022 to the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, said she supported the outcome but was disappointed the vote was so close.
“I felt like it should have gotten a unanimous vote. It seems like such a commonsense rule,” Thorne told The Daily Signal. “The rule follows exactly the existing law.”
Thorne added: “To say this will cause delays in election certification is just hypothetical fearmongering.”
Left-leaning activist groups—including Fair Fight Action—opposed the measure, arguing that county election boards shouldn’t be allowed to investigate irregularities, as allowed under the rules change.
But some Georgia Republicans—including the top election official, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger—opposed the change based on practical concerns of delaying certification of an election.
Ken Cuccinelli, chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative, testified in favor of the new rule at the Georgia State Election Board’s meeting, saying it sets uniform standards for counties to follow an existing law about reconciling the number of votes counted with the number of voters casting ballots.
“Secretary Raffensperger is, I believe, sincere in his opposition. But he is prioritizing speed, and we are prioritizing accuracy,” Cuccinelli, a former Virginia attorney general, told The Daily Signal.
Raffensperger last week warned against the rule change, asserting that it would slow down the certification process.
“The [Georgia] General Assembly knew that quick reporting of results and certification is paramount to voter confidence and passed SB 202, but misguided attempts by the State Election Board will delay election results and undermine chain of custody safeguards,” Raffensperger said in a public statement. “Georgia voters reject this 11th-hour chaos, and so should the unelected members of the State Election Board.”
Raffensperger was referring to Georgia’s election law reform, Senate Bill 202, enacted in 2021 and including a voter ID requirement for mail-in ballots, among other things.
Cuccinelli noted that most opponents of the election board’s so-called reconciliation rule were the same ones who opposed SB 202.
“There are plenty of mistakes made. You don’t even need to get to the fraud,” he said. “This will help minimize mistakes and make fraud more difficult.”
Hans von Spakovsky, manager of the Election Law Reform Initiative at The Heritage Foundation, also gave expert testimony ahead of the board’s vote on the rule.
A former member of the Fulton County election board, von Spakovsky said he was surprised when opponents of the change said county boards have no authority to review when the numbers don’t add up.
“The idea that county boards are not allowed to investigate is absurd. Under the law, county election boards are fully required to run elections,” he said.
Von Spakovsky called the concerns about delaying certification “misplaced,” noting the deadline for certification remains 5 p.m. on the Monday after the election.
“I was astounded by the opposition to this rule that just says that votes cast and counted should match the number of people who came to vote,” von Spakovksy said. “The fact that anyone opposes it is unbelievable.”
After the board’s vote Monday, Georgia-based Fair Fight Action spokesman Max Flugrath blamed former President Donald Trump.
Flugrath said the rule was pushed by MAGA, an acronym for the Trump slogan “Make America Great Again.” Fair Fight Action was founded by Stacey Abrams, who has lost two general election races for Georgia governor.
“Trump-backed Georgia [State] Election Board passes rule change that Trump allies can use to delay certification of 2024 election results,” Flugrath posted on the social media platform X, adding, “The rule change was advanced by MAGA election deniers.”
The liberal watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington called Georgia’s new reconciliation rule “fishy” and vowed to challenge it. A court could overturn the board’s decision. Or legislation passed by the state Legislature and signed by the governor could undo the decision.
“The Georgia State Election Board is trying to pass an illegal rule that would legitimize efforts to sabotage the election certification process,” the organization posted Tuesday on X.
Reconciling the number of voters with the number of ballots already is required by state law, although it’s not enforced by every county. Georgia Code § 2I-2-493(b) states that a county’s superintendent of elections “shall compare the registration figure with the certificates returned by the poll officers showing the number of persons who voted in each precinct or the number of ballots cast.”
The state law adds that when the number of votes “exceeds the total number of persons who voted in such precinct or the total number of ballots cast therein, such excess shall be deemed a discrepancy and palpable error and shall be investigated by the superintendent; and no votes shall be recorded from such precinct until an investigation shall be had.”
Under the new rule, a county’s election superintendent will transmit a reconciliation report to the Georgia Office of the Secretary of State on the total of ballots cast in each precinct and the number of voters who received credit for voting in each precinct.
“Any discrepancies in the aggregate total of ballots cast in each precinct compared to the aggregate number of voters who received credit for voting in a precinct shall be fully investigated by the election superintendent or designee,” the new rule says. “The explanation for any discrepancy shall be included in the reconciliation report.”
Early voting in Georgia will begin Oct. 15.
The Peach State has 16 votes in the national Electoral College that ultimately decides who is elected president. In the 2020 presidential race, Biden narrowly won the state over Trump, the incumbent, becoming the first Democratic presidential nominee to win there since Bill Clinton in 1992.