A new , Georgia , vote rule approved on Monday adds more steps, including the requirement to verify vote counts before the deadline for defense and overseas ballots.
The State Election Board  , voted 3-2 to finish the law, which was supported by , three Democratic table members , whom , Donald Trump , praised , during a recent , Atlanta , march.
If state election boards do not accept elections as required by law, opponents of the guideline said it could alienate voters and lead to delays.
The rule is the latest effort to , change , what it means to certify election results ahead of this year’s presidential election, following up on a requirement passed earlier this month that counties conduct an undefined , “reasonable inquiry”  , before finalizing results.
Voting rights organizations predicted that the new regulations will produce a riot in November.
” I can also only see us actually impacting the entire state with this”, said , Brittany Burns , of Protect the Voting GA during a , Capitol , press event. ” This may actually influence the presidential election”.
At least 19 state election board people have objected to confirming elections since Trump claimed the 2020 competition was stolen, according to , a nationwide study by , The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. State election studies have consistently debunked claims of widespread scams but , verified , vote-counting , problems.
Under the law, each state election board had meet by , 3 p. m.  , on the Friday after , election day , to collect vote totals by corridor and ballot type.
However, absentee ballots that needed vote verification, absentee ballots that needed confirmation, and votes from foreign and military voters can still be received and counted until the close of the day that Friday. All other votes are expected before elections close at , 7 p. m.  , on vote day.
County election planks are also permitted to review all election-related files and just confirm elections after discrepancies are discovered and corrected by the law. Election boards are required to find a method to calculate the votes if errors are discovered that ca n’t be corrected, according to the rule.
Last vote totals may be certified by state election board one year after , election time, or , Nov. 12 , for this year’s presidential vote.
Hans von , Spakovsky of the Heritage Foundation, a traditional business, said state election officials need a greater capacity to check voting numbers.
” This is a matter of good government, not politics” , , von Spakovsky , told the board during the virtual meeting that drew more than 850 viewers. That is simply not true, because those who claim this may alienate voters. If a district receives 900 seats and it turns out 1, 000 citizens came in, what did alienate citizens?
State Election Board  , Chairman , John Fervier , opposed the law, saying he’s concerned that state election board people could use it as a rationale to vote against certifying votes.
” This rule would lead to an unlimited search of documents that could create board members saying,’ Well, I did n’t receive X, I did n’t receive Y, so I’m not going to certify this election,'” said Fervier, who was appointed by Republican Gov.  , Brian Kemp. ” I’ve often believed that that approach needs to have scaffolding around it.”
Board member , Janice Johnston , said the law is needed to ensure appropriate voting matters.
According to Johnston, who was appointed by the , Georgia Republican Party,” It is the power and the responsibility of the table or the director to review and carefully count every legal vote.” ” They should not be counted” if the table or the director discovered that there were seats that were cast inadvertently.
The new law is scheduled to take effect in 20 times, less than two weeks before the , Nov. 5 , vote.
The State Election Board  , has the power to create rules as long as they do n’t conflict with , Georgia , election laws. The state board does n’t certify election results, which is a duty of county election boards. The new laws have not yet been challenged in court.
A unique concept plan was presented by the table that would have required three poll workers to hand-count the number of ballots cast on vote night to make sure totals correspond to the number of ballots counted by voting machines.
The committee considered allowing the identification of vote counts the day after election day after hearing issues about delays in reporting poll results. That principle may become reconsidered at a future , State Election Board  , meet.
___
© 2024 The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Distributed by , Tribune Content Agency, LLC.
