What Georgia’s new rule requiring manual ballot counting could mean for November

With less than 50 days until November 5, the allies of Donald Trump serve on the board of elections in Georgia voted for a rule that could choke off the democratic process in a key swing state—requiring counties to count ballots by hand. “In addition to violating established law, this change reeks of an attempt to undermine Georgia’s ability to conduct free, fair, and accurate elections,” Justin Bergerelection law counsel at the nonprofit Informing Democracy said in a statement on Friday, warning that the requirement would “increase the risk of human error and confusion, make it difficult, costly, slow down the process, and put the security of the ballot itself at risk.”

Some Republicans have even spoken out against the move, with Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said the council was “infringing” on the authority of the General Assembly. Georgia’s Foreign Minister Brad Raffensperger speak CNN said Thursday that the election is “too close” to change the law. “It’s just too late in the cycle,” said Raffensperger, who rejected Trump’s demand to “find” enough votes to defeat him. Joe Biden.

Of course, Trump’s attempt to overturn the 2020 results failed, in part because enough Republicans like Raffensperger didn’t participate. But the attacks on the system have become more coordinated since then, as I reported Fifth, election deniers seek more control over the democratic process—raising concerns that MAGA Republicans may seek to undermine the system from within.

In Georgia, which played a key role in Biden’s 2020 victory and is sure to have a major impact again in November, those fears escalated earlier this year when Trump allies Janice Johnston, Rick JafferesAnd Janelle King took control of the state’s election board—earning praise from Trump at an August rally in Atlanta. “They’re doing a great job,” Trump speak supporters, describing the three as “Pitbulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory.”

But the vote isn’t about making the election “better,” as King claimed Friday; despite all of Trump’s lies about voter fraud, the process was secure, experts and officials have stressed. Instead, what the last-minute rule change could do — if allowed — is make it easier for Trump to contest the results and undermine faith in the process. The board is “trying to undermine safe and secure election processes based on conspiracy theories,” Colorado Secretary of State Jena GriswoldPresident of the Democratic Association of Foreign Ministers, wrote Sixth. “Hand counting is slower, more expensive, and more prone to error. This change is intended to sow doubt about the election, plain and simple.”