The State Election Board’s Republican majority voted on Friday to require a hand count of all ballots after polls close on election night, a new requirement that could delay results of the presidential race.
County election directors universally opposed the eleventh-hour counting mandate, saying it would undermine voter confidence in the election results. They said results will come in more slowly, ballot box seals would be broken and manual counts could be inaccurate.
But supporters of the rule said it will reduce the possibility of miscounts and ensure all ballots are tracked. Hand-counts of ballots has become an initiative of supporters of former President Donald Trump who mistrust Georgia’s electronic voting system.
The board approved the hand-counting rule 3-2 with the backing of three board members Trump commended as “pit bulls” during an Atlanta rally last month.
arvin.temkar@ajc.com
arvin.temkar@ajc.com
The Republican chairman of the board and its lone Democratic member opposed the rule, saying it would introduce confusion so close to the election.
“To say that it would not cause delays on election night is not true or accurate,” Greene County Election Director Rebecca Anglin told the board. “You’re waiting until all of this has been done on election night before it (votes) gets back to that office.”
It’s unknown how long the count would take, especially in large precincts with many voters. Some counties already hand count the number of ballots, but it’s not a requirement.
State Election Board member Janelle King acknowledged that counting ballots would take more time.
“I don’t want to set a precedent where we’re OK with speed over accuracy,” said King, a Republican appointee to the board. “I can guarantee you as a voter that I would rather wait another hour to ensure the count is accurate. What we’re doing is creating more stability in our election process.”
The rule requires a count of the number of ballots cast, not a count of which candidate received more votes. Vote totals are reported separately.
The hand-count is the latest adjustment to Georgia election rules after the State Election Board previously approved new requirements before results are certified, raising concerns that county election boards could refuse to do so if their preferred candidate loses in November.
Under the hand-count rule, three poll workers in each precinct would sort ballots into piles of 50 after polls close, or they could return to the elections office the next day to conduct the hand count. The ballot count would have to match the count recorded by the ballot scanner.
State Election Board Chairman John Fervier voted against the hand-count proposal, saying it could be challenged in court and contribute to voter distrust of elections.
The attorney general’s office warned the board in a letter Thursday that the rule isn’t supported by state law, making it “likely the precise type of impermissible legislation that agencies cannot do.”
“I do think it’s too close to the election. It’s too late to train poll workers,” said Fervier, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp. “If the Legislature had wanted this, they would have put it in statute. You can’t read any place in statute where this is. This board is not here to make law.”
The hand-count proposal came from Sharlene Alexander, a Republican member of the Fayette County election board who said election officials should know up-front, on election night, that all ballots are accounted for.
“Since 2020, we’ve hand counted the ballots on Election Day, and we also did it during early voting. We didn’t think it added that much time,” Alexander said. “It is not that difficult. I don’t know why you keep saying there are going to be errors.”
Election directors said they already account for ballots during every day of voting, checking that voter check-ins match the number of people who have voted and investigating discrepancies.
It’s rare for ballots to be overlooked, but it has happened on occasion, such as when poll workers have forgotten to collect ballots sorted into various bins inside scanning machines.
In another case, voting machine programming errors in DeKalb County caused a miscount of a county commission race. A hand count corrected the problem.
Election directors characterized the hand-counting idea as a last-minute change that will make it harder to run a smooth election.
The rule would go into effect as soon as Oct. 14, the day before in-person early voting begins.
Many voters who spoke to the board during public comments asked it to hold off on imposing new requirements as voting will soon begin.
“The proposals being discussed today introduced huge opportunities for chaos, error, voter insecurity and lawsuits,” said Barbara Gooby, a Chatham County election worker. “The proposals introduce very real opportunity for human error.”
The hand-counting measure was one of 11 new rules considered by the State Election Board on Friday.
A few of the other rule changes passed, including requirements allowing poll watcher access in tabulation areas and public posting of reconciliation reports explaining discrepancies.
The board rejected several proposals, citing concerns about potential costs to taxpayers.
Those initiatives would have required absentee ballot tracking through the mail, retained voting machine memory cards for 24 months, and distinguished absentee ballots from emergency and provisional ballots with a marking in the top margin.
Many ballots have already been printed, and absentee ballots will begin to be mailed to voters Oct. 7.
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