Georgia’s State Election Board recently made a decision to implement a new rule mandating poll workers to manually count paper ballots. The board approved the rule with a 3-2 vote, disregarding advice from the state attorney general’s office, the secretary of state’s office, and an association of county election officials. Notably, three board members, who were commended by former President Donald Trump at a rally in Atlanta, supported the measure.
Under the new rule, paper ballots must be tallied by three different poll workers at each polling location until all three counts match. If a scanner contains more than 750 ballots at the close of voting hours, the poll manager has the option to delay the count until the next day. Despite opposition from various county election officials who expressed concerns during a public comment period, highlighting potential delays in reporting election night results and increased strain on poll workers who have already endured a lengthy day.
