10/16/2024

Georgia Judge Rules County Election Officials Must Certify Election Results

The ruling comes as early voting began Tuesday in Georgia

A Georgia judge has ruled county election officials must certify election results by the deadline set in law and cannot exclude any group of votes from certification even if they suspect error or fraud.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that "no election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance." While they have the right to inspect the conduct of an election and to review related documents, he wrote, "any delay in receiving such information is not a basis for refusing to certify the election results or abstaining from doing so."

Georgia law says county election superintendents, which are multi-member boards in most counties, "shall" certify election results by 5 p.m. on the Monday after an election — or the Tuesday if Monday is a holiday as it is this year.

Please select this link to read the complete article from The Associated Press.