Dem
50
GOP
50
We dodged a small bullet, thanks to delaying the item on Donald Trump's media company. On the other hand, we wrote an item that said early voting would probably be way down in 2024, as compared to 2020, due to the pandemic and other factors. Yesterday, Georgians turned out in force on the first day of early voting (as opposed to voting-by-mail, which had already commenced). There was also some other big news. Lawyer-reader A.R. in Los Angeles sent in a report:
Georgians started voting Tuesday, and the Peach State broke a record for first-day early voting with over 300,000 ballots cast. This includes one particularly special person who has been waiting patiently: Jimmy Carter has officially cast his vote for Kamala Harris.
And we now know that his vote will count and be certified by the county by the statutory deadline of Nov. 12. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, appointed to the bench by Republican Governor Nathan Deal, issued two critical rulings this week. On Monday, in response to a lawsuit brought by a Republican election superintendent—who claimed she has the discretion to delay the certification of votes if she doesn't like the results... er, if she thinks something is "off"—McBurney held that certification is a ministerial act and the law is clear that votes "shall" be certified by the deadline mandated by state law. Any suspected issues with the vote count are the province of the county prosecutor, attorney general and other state officials. He wrote: "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. Our Constitution and our Election Code do not allow for that to happen."
This result is good news in relation to a different challenge brought against a rule the Georgia Election Board passed, one which allows county election officials to conduct a "reasonable inquiry" into the election results, even if it means delaying the certification. That case is still pending, but is now presumably on life support.
Yesterday, meanwhile, McBurney issued a temporary restraining order (TRO) blocking a new rule set to take effect on October 22 that required poll workers to hand-count all the ballots cast in each precinct after the polls close, which could have delayed reporting the results. He held that it was "too much, too late" and too confusing as to how the rule was to be implemented. The TRO was issued in a case challenging not only the hand-count requirements, but also a new rule allowing poll watchers to have access to more areas in an election facility. The TRO applies only to the hand count requirement and is in effect until there's a ruling on the merits. Hearings are scheduled for today, in front of Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox.
Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) is a man of integrity, and is working hard to ensure that voters are confident in the election and that everything proceeds smoothly despite the best efforts of the Georgia Elections Board to create chaos. He reminded the public Tuesday that under a new state law, all early votes will have to be reported by 8 p.m. on election night. This is the law that allows any registered voter to file an unlimited number of challenges to voters' eligibility. So, there's still some work to do in the free and fair election department, but Raffensperger is trying to keep things under control as best he can, and hope springs eternal.
Thanks, A.R.! (Z)