A Georgia state judge ruled that local election officials must certify vote counts by the legal deadline even if they suspect mistakes or fraud.
According to Fox News, Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney of Fulton County, Georgia, ruled that “no election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance.”
“If election superintendents were, as Plaintiff urges, free to play investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge and so — because of a unilateral determination of error or fraud — refuse to certify election results, Georgia voters would be silenced,” McBurney wrote in his decision, according to NPR.
“Our Constitution and our Election Code do not allow for that to happen,” he added.
Breaking: Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney declares that certification of election results is mandatory under Georgia law. Adding to this no election board “may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstances.” pic.twitter.com/7xxbwMzD8W
— Real Mac Report (@RealMacReport) October 15, 2024
Per Fox News:
The officials do have the right to investigate their concerns about the vote count and to review related documents, McBurney wrote, but “any delay in receiving such information is not a basis for refusing to certify the election results or abstaining from doing so.”
Election results must be certified by Georgia’s individual counties by 5 p.m. the Monday or Tuesday after the race.
ADVERTISEMENTThe ruling was handed down the same day Peach State residents head to the polls for early in-person voting, which runs from Oct. 15 through Nov. 1.
The suit was filed by Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections member Julie Adams and backed by America First Policy Institute, a conservative group aligned with former President Donald Trump.
Adams had voted against certifying the presidential primary results in May. She then sued the Fulton County elections board, arguing she was not able to fulfill her duties as a superintendent after a documents request was denied, and that she was within her rights to not certify the results.
JUST IN: Georgia Judge Rules County Officials Can’t Delay, Decline to Certify Election Results
Georgia law requires county election superintendents to certify election results by 5 p.m. on the Monday following the election. pic.twitter.com/5sBkvZui0z
— The Epoch Times (@EpochTimes) October 15, 2024
— Anthony Michael Kreis (@AnthonyMKreis) October 15, 2024
NPR reports:
The ruling comes as several Republican local election board members have already declined to certify election results from primary contests earlier this year and after the Georgia State Election Board passed new rules that appeared to allow this discretion. Georgia’s Republican secretary of state has long emphasized that certification is not optional under Georgia law.
Julie Adams, a Republican on the Fulton County Board of Elections, asked the court to rule that her duty to certify is discretionary — not mandatory. Adams has declined to certify multiple elections this year.
McBurney has yet to decide on the new State Election Board rules themselves, which are being challenged in several other lawsuits.
One rule says local boards should conduct a “reasonable inquiry” into the accuracy of the count before certifying results. The other says local board members must be allowed to examine all election-related documents “prior to certification of results.”
ADVERTISEMENTSeveral Democratic local election officials and voters, as well as the Democratic Party of Georgia and the Democratic National Committee, filed a lawsuit asking the courts to overturn the rules, or at least affirm that under Georgia law, local election boards’ duty to certify is mandatory, not discretionary.
Read the full ruling HERE.
This is a Guest Post from our friends over at 100 Percent Fed Up.
View the original article here.
Join the conversation!
Please share your thoughts about this article below. We value your opinions, and would love to see you add to the discussion!