Georgia judge blocks rule requiring hand counting of ballots

Oct. 16 (UPI) -- A Georgia judge blocked a new state rule that would force counties to hand count ballots cast on Election Day, saying that it would create "administrative chaos."

Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney issued a temporary restraining order, saying that the measure would be implemented too close to the election, not giving enough time to train poll workers for the high-pressure task in the battleground where the nation would be watching.

"[T]he public interest is not disserved by pressing pause here," McBurney wrote. "This election season is fraught; memories of Jan. 6 have not faded away, regardless of one's view of that date's fame or infamy. Anything that adds uncertainty and disorder to the election process disserves the public."

The State Election Board passed the new rule that would require precinct poll managers and officers to unseal ballot boxes and hand count votes to see if they matched machine totals by a 3-2 vote in September.

It was set to take effect on Oct. 22, a week after early voting opened in Georgia on Tuesday with voters casting 300,000 ballots, more than doubling the old first-day record of 136,000.

The rule was greeted with lawsuits and complaints from even Republican elected officials, such as the attorney general and secretary of state. The Cobb County election board asked the court to block the law.

Before McBurney's ruling, the State Board argued that complaints from critics and the lawsuits amounted to nothing more than hypotheticals and speculations. It added that it would be easy to train election workers to comply with the new rules, something refuted by some local election boards.

McBurney also shot down a Republican-led effort to broaden the power of county election officials by ruling they had an obligation to certify election results without delay and had no role in declining them.

A Republican in Fulton County had sought to give county election board to reject or not certify county election results because of fraud allegations. McBurney ruled that such an allegation is up for authorities to investigate, not the board to use the allegations to deny certification.

Georgia opened its doors for advanced voting on Tuesday, setting opening-day records. Officials said voters cast more than