Judge Strikes Down Multiple Georgia Election Rules

Judge Strikes Down Multiple Georgia Election Rules

The measures had been promoted by the State Election Board. The judge called them “illegal, unconstitutional and void.”

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By Nick Corasaniti and Johnny Kauffman

A local judge on Wednesday delivered a sweeping ruling that rejected multiple new rules governing elections in Georgia, describing them as “illegal, unconstitutional and void.”

Most of the rules knocked down by the court closely aligned with the priorities of right-wing activists and were approved by the Georgia State Election Board in recent months. They included mandates to count election ballots by hand, expand the monitoring of ballot drop boxes, require new identification for delivering absentee ballots and provide expanded access for poll watchers, along with new requirements and procedures that could disrupt the election certification process.

In a swift, 11-page ruling, Judge Thomas A. Cox found each of the rules passed by the Georgia State Election Board to be unlawful, violating Georgia state law, the Georgia State Constitution and the U.S. Constitution.

While the ruling amounted to a paragraph-by-paragraph rejection of months of rule-making by the State Election Board, it also struck a clear blow at the heart of many right-wing election policy goals, refuting arguments about election certification, hand counting and identification requirements as contrary to current law.

Since May, the Georgia State Election Board has been governed by a 3-2 right-wing majority, passing a host of rules that have been met with near universal opposition from local election officials. The secretary of state and attorney general, both Republicans, have warned the State Election Board that it was most likely exceeding its legal authority.

Judge Cox agreed.

“The S.E.B.’s authority can only extend to adopt rules and regulations to carry into effect a law already passed or otherwise administer and effectuate an existing enactment of the General Assembly,” Judge Cox wrote. “The rules at issue exceed or are in conflict with specific provisions of the Election Code. Thus, the challenged rules are unlawful and void.”

The lawsuit challenging the new election rules had been brought by a group of Republicans known as Eternal Vigilance Action, founded by former State Representative Scot Turner, a Republican, who praised the decision on Wednesday.

“This is a victory for the Constitution and the principle of separation of powers. Every conservative should see this as a win and significant pushback on an unelected board making law,” Mr. Turner said.

During the hearing, a lawyer for Eternal Vigilance Action argued that the State Election Board’s activity was an example of bureaucratic overreach, and not conservative government.

“Kind of like Napoleon, they put a crown on their head and say we are the emperors of the election,” said the lawyer, Christopher S. Anulewicz, referring to the state election board. “No. That is not the way that our system of government works.”

A spokesman for the State Election Board did not respond to a request for comment, and the prospect for an appeal of the judge’s ruling was unclear.

Dr. Janice Johnston, a Republican appointee to the election board, attended the hearing, as did Mike Coan, the board’s executive director. Cleta Mitchell, a Republican lawyer who played a key role in trying to overturn the 2020 election, attending the hearing via Zoom.

The chair of the Georgia Republican Party, Josh McKoon, called the judge’s decision “totally nonsensical” and “entirely wrongheaded” in a statement posted to social media. He said the party would appeal the ruling.

“These common sense rules will increase public confidence in elections administration,” Mr. McKoon said.

The decision from Judge Cox followed a ruling on Tuesday from the same court — but in a separate case — that blocked a rule passed by the State Election Board requiring the hand counting of ballot totals, pointing out that the rule would have taken effect midway through early voting. In his ruling on Wednesday, Judge Cox made similar note of the timing, writing that the rules were “passed approximately a month before early voting began.”

Judge Cox’s order was filed less than an hour after oral arguments were held over a pair of lawsuits also challenging new state election board rules. He directed the state to “immediately inform all state and local election officials that these rules are void and are not to be followed.”

In his ruling, Judge Cox repeatedly criticized the State Election Board for ignoring current law.

Regarding a rule requiring video surveillance of drop boxes after polls close, Judge Cox wrote that “the S.E.B. cannot by rule require something the General Assembly both did not legislate and specifically considered and declined to enact.”

Regarding a rule mandating hand counting of ballot totals to compare to machines, Judge Cox wrote, “This hand counting exercise is nowhere authorized by the General Assembly in the Election Code.”

And regarding a rule requiring that a photo ID or a signature be presented when delivering absentee ballots, Judge Cox wrote that the election board had “no authority to require such presentment as a condition of accepting and counting an otherwise properly delivered ballot.”

During the hearing on Wednesday, Judge Cox suggested the state’s election board could have instead asked elected politicians in the Georgia General Assembly to make the changes by passing new laws.

“Wouldn’t this have been a more appropriate vehicle to get these rules approved?” asked Judge Cox.