The Georgia Supreme Court has rejected a Republican request to immediately reinstate new voting rules passed by the State Election Board (SEB) last month.
The Peach State Supreme Court ruled late last week that the Republican National Committee (RNC) announced that it would hear the request for an early appeal.
A one-page ruling by the state Supreme Court released Tuesday afternoon indicates the ruling will remain in effect until Election Day. All of the court's judges unanimously upheld it.
Cox's decision also included a requirement that each precinct's ballots be counted by hand by three separate county employees to ensure the totals matched the machine-counted numbers, as well as a requirement that county commissioners It included a provision directing election results to be certified only after a “reasonable investigation.” Above all, its accuracy.
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Early voting is underway in Georgia, and the state is considering new election measures. (Getty Images)
Plaintiffs in the case included civil rights groups such as the Georgia Conference of the NAACP and Eternal Vigilance, as well as current and former state officials.
The state Supreme Court said it “lacks jurisdiction over this complaint,” but intends to litigate because of the “issues of seriousness and public importance” it presents. The RNC and its allies, including the Georgia Republican Party, called for an urgent expediting of the appeals process.
With Election Day just two weeks away, Georgia has already broken early voting records just seven days after voting began last Tuesday. As of Tuesday afternoon, more than one in four Georgia voters had cast a ballot.
The SEB voted 3-2 to pass the rule on September 20, with three Republican-appointed members voting in favor of the change and one voting against it.
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The Georgia Supreme Court said it would hear the appeal. (Georgia Supreme Court)
In addition to the two aforementioned rules, the SEB actions Cox struck down include increased ID and documentation requirements for people delivering absentee ballots to drop boxes, and ensuring that votes cast at drop boxes are counted. It included rules mandating video surveillance.
Plaintiffs in this case argued that SEB lacked the authority to enact such rules.
The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), which represented the plaintiffs in the case, said the move “has caused chaos in our democratic system in the run-up to the November election.”
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“Early voting has begun and more than 1 million Georgians have already cast their votes. Judge Cox's ruling prevents mid-game rule changes,” the ACLU said in response to the Republican lawsuit.
But even if the court had ruled in favor of the RNC, the hand-counted voting rule would still have been blocked by a separate Fulton County Superior Court decision that temporarily delayed implementation. Another previous ruling required elections to be certified by a certain date regardless of county officials' investigations.
Democrats had accused Republican officials of trying to sow doubt and confusion in the election process with the new rules.
Georgia Supreme Court rejects RNC's emergency appeal in a unanimous one-page decision (Georgia Supreme Court)
Republican skeptics, including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, argue that the policy is impossible to implement so close to the election.
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But party officials like Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McCoon argued the rules were necessary guardrails to ensure election security.
“If his decision is upheld, it would significantly reduce the ability of the State Board of Elections to regulate elections and carry out its mandate,” McCune said.
Fox News Digital contacted both the Harris and Trump campaigns regarding their response to the Georgia Supreme Court ruling.
