Georgia’s new poll watcher and hand count rules loom large as early voting begins

A new election law that could take effect this week would provide poll watchers with greater access to voters and election workers after the polls open on Tuesday for early voting for Georgia’s highly anticipated general election.

Georgia election officials, political parties, voting rights groups, and election security watchdogs will be on high alert this week as hundreds of poll watchers are expected to deploy across Georgia’s advanced voting sites, but now with greater legal freedom for observing voters and monitoring other election operations.

The State Election Board’s relaxed restrictions on poll watcher access is the subject of one of several recent rule changes facing legal challenges. 

The loosened restrictions on poll watchers is one of several pending lawsuits challenging State Election Board rules adopted by Donald Trump loyalists Janelle King, Janice Johnston and Rick Jeffares. 

State and national Republican political organizations have defended the implementation of election rules this close to an election, stating that they are necessary steps toward restoring public confidence in elections. After Trump lost the 2020 election to President Joe Biden, conspiracy theories spread among many Republicans attributing the former president’s loss to widespread fraud, which multiple recounts and audits determined were unfounded.

The three election officials’ flurry of rulemaking won them praise from former President Donald Trump during a Georgia campaign rally in August, when he called them “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory.” 

Republican Attorney General Chris Carr advised the three right-wing Georgia board members are overstepping the rulemaking authority of the State Election Board.

Several Georgia judges are expected to rule in the next several days on the status of rules critics say could create confusion and chaos in the 2024 elections.

Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer for the secretary of state’s office, said
it would have been helpful if the State Election Board had listened to the many concerns expressed by county election supervisors about the last-minute rule changes.

There will be some clarity for election officials following Fulton County court hearing on Wednesday, as well as a looming decision on rules giving county election boards the power to reject certification of election results, Sterling said during an Oct. 7 news conference updating election preparations following Hurricane Helene.

“We can’t expend limited resources on something that may not even happen right now, so we have to wait until it happens,” Sterling said.

“We understand that many people feel like they are doing things to help secure the election and increase people’s faith in the outcome of the election,” he said. “Unfortunately, at the same time, they’re undermining other people’s faith in the election.”

A new rule set to take effect this week that is being challenged in court requires election workers to verify by hand the final day vote total after the polls close on Election Day.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas A. Cox, Jr. has scheduled hearings Wednesday for two lawsuits challenging the updated State Election Board provisions that extend poll watchers’ access to the polls and require election workers to hand count ballots cast on Election Day. 

The board’s rule expands the locations that poll watchers can access inside election facilities. The poll watching rule is the second time this year that changes in law have given poll watchers a better vantage point inside polling places and vote tabulation centers. A new law that was enacted on July 1 by Republican lawmakers removed a restriction requiring that poll watchers must remain inside enclosed areas designated by local election officials. 

Supporters of the new guidelines say the changes are meant to give local election officials and staff, as well as partisan poll watchers, a better understanding of the extent of access during elections.

The plaintiffs in the Sept. 11 election rules complaint are Eternal Vigilance Action, Republican former state House Rep. Scot Turner and GOP Chatham County Election Board member James Hall.

The Republican National Committee and the Georgia Republican Party filed a response countering that Turner and Hall lack the legal standing to sue the state and denied allegations that changes to election procedures will cause unnecessary disruptions to elections.

“The rules adopted by the Georgia State Election Board speak for themselves,” the GOP organizations wrote in a Sept. 27 court brief.  

Several million Georgians are expected to cast mail-in ballots and vote in person at polling places by Nov. 5, when the presidential race between Trump and Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris, as well as congressional and legislative contests, are on the ballot.

Georgia is considered one of seven swing states in the presidential race according to recent polls. The statewide three-week early voting period will run from Oct. 15 until Nov. 1.

Cox is also set to consider Wednesday a request for an emergency judgment overturning a mandate that three poll workers verify the final results recorded by electronic machines by hand counting ballots cast on Election Day. The hand counting rule is being challenged by local election officials in Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett and Forsyth counties and national and state Democratic parties.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Georgia Recorder.