The Georgia Supreme Court on Tuesday unanimously ruled against the Republican-run state election board, restricting what voting rules it can create.
Georgia’s highest court upheld a lower court decision that blocked several controversial election laws instituted by the Trump-allied board. Two of the most controversial were a rule requiring an additional hand count of all ballots cast on Election Day, and another allowing local election board members to take “reasonable inquiry” before certifying election results.
“Although it is not certain that these rules would actually lead to the rejection of votes that have been cast, the threatened violation of a plaintiff’s rights is sufficient to establish standing” that they were able to sue, Chief Justice Nels Peterson wrote, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “The SEB can pass rules to implement and enforce the election code, but it cannot go beyond, change or contradict the (the law).”
While the state Supreme Court found that four of the SEB’s rules violated Georgia law, including the two most controversial, others did not. One law requiring ballot drop boxes to be removed if not under constant surveillance was found to be legal, while two others relating to poll watchers and the daily reporting of vote counts were passed to a lower court for reconsideration.
The SEB’s aggressive actions regarding election law were widely defended by Republicans, even earning the praise of Trump at an August 2024 election rally in Atlanta. However, not all were in favor, with the lawsuit that set the saga in motion being filed by the conservative group Eternal Vigilance Action, which argued that the SEB had overstepped its authority.
“Like fellow conservatives across the country, we oppose empowering the administrative state to act with the force of law,” former Republican legislator and plaintiff Scot Turner said. “We’re looking to affirm the separation of powers required by the state constitution. The legislative branch writes the rules; the executive carries them out as written.”
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Democrats were largely united in their opposition.
“Last minute regulations from the Georgia State Election Board threaten the integrity of electoral processes and violate the constitutional separation of powers,” Right Count, an election integrity group, said in an October post on X. “Right Count is now taking action with current and former Georgia legislators to stop them.”