The Democratic National Committee filed a legal briefing Friday seeking to block a controversial rewrite of election rules in Georgia that would mandate an election night ballot count and require a vague “reasonable inquiry” before certifying results.

The friend-of-the-court filing to the Georgia Supreme Court is one of the first major moves by newly elected DNC chair Ken Martin, who called the Republican-backed changes “an attempt to sow distrust in our election.”

“To the great annoyance of MAGA Republicans in Georgia, the DNC is making it clear: there are no off days when it comes to protecting democracy,” said Martin, who won the DNC chair job on Saturday. “Politicians don’t decide our elections — voters do.”

Ken Martin is chair of the Democratic National Committee. (Rod Lamkey Jr./AP)

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The state Supreme Court unanimously blocked the new voting rules in October but allowed an appeal to proceed. The court has set oral arguments for March 19.

The DNC is joining a legal challenge initially brought by former state Rep. Scot Turner, a Republican who said the board overstepped its authority by bypassing the Legislature.

The Republican Party contend the proposed rules are necessary safeguards to preserve the integrity of the vote. And Donald Trump praised the three-member majority that backed the board’s changes as “pit bulls fighting for honesty.”

The most contentious rule would have required poll workers to manually count ballots on election night ― not tallying who won, but just the number of ballots — potentially delaying results by hours.

Another rule called for county election board members to conduct an undefined “reasonable inquiry” before certifying results, raising fears it could be used to challenge legitimate outcomes.

County election board members would also have been permitted to review all election documents before certification.

While the appeal is pending, it’s unclear whether Republicans could try to enshrine parts of the policy into state law. State GOP Chair Josh McKoon recently unveiled a wish list that includes several sweeping election changes, prompting stinging GOP backlash.

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8/26/17 - Atlanta, GA - Georgia leaders, including Gov. Nathan Deal, Sandra Deal, members of the King family, and Rep. Calvin Smyre,  were on hand for unveiling of the first statue of Martin Luther King Jr. on Monday at the statehouse grounds, more than three years after Gov. Nathan Deal first announced the project.  During the hour-long ceremony leading to the unveiling of the statue of Martin Luther King Jr. at the state Capitol on Monday, many speakers, including Gov. Nathan Deal, spoke of King's biography. The statue was unveiled on the anniversary of King's famed "I Have Dream" speech. BOB ANDRES  /BANDRES@AJC.COM

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