Pro-Trump Republicans Suffer Crushing Loss Weeks Before Election
A Georgia judge has ruled to block some of the recent changes to the state’s election regulations, deciding that a new rule by the Trumpian board—and its suspicious timing ahead of the November election—would only amount to bedlam for the swing state.In his Tuesday night decision, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote that the initiative, driven by local MAGA politicos (whom Trump referred to as “pit bulls fighting for victory” before their August vote) was “too much, too late.” The regulation would have mandated poll workers to hand-count ballots after they were electronically filed—an arduous order that local officials warned last week was making it that much harder to find people willing to do the job.In his ruling, McBurney noted that although the strenuous regulation appeared, on its face, to be consistent with the intent and purpose of the State Election Board, the timing of the rule’s passage and its expedited implementation would only further destabilize the election and seed chaos.“A rule that introduces a new and substantive role on the eve of election for more than 7,500 poll workers who will not have received any formal, cohesive, or consistent training and that allows for our paper ballots—the only tangible proof of who voted for whom—to be handled multiple times by multiple people following an exhausting Election Day all before they are securely transported to the official tabulation center does not contribute to lessening the tension or boosting the confidence of the public for this election,” McBurney emphasized.“This election season is fraught; memories of January 6 have not faded away, regardless of one’s view of that date’s fame or infamy,” McBurney wrote. “Anything that adds uncertainty and disorder to the electoral process disserves the public.”It’s the second consecutive blow to the MAGA movement’s supposed success in the Peach State. On Monday, McBurney torched another component of the far-right overhaul, deciding that local election officials could not stand in the way of voting results and cannot refuse to certify election results. Instead, officials have a duty to certify the results by 5 p.m. on the Monday following Election Day, according to the judge.“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,” he ruled.
A Georgia judge has ruled to block some of the recent changes to the state’s election regulations, deciding that a new rule by the Trumpian board—and its suspicious timing ahead of the November election—would only amount to bedlam for the swing state.
In his Tuesday night decision, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney wrote that the initiative, driven by local MAGA politicos (whom Trump referred to as “pit bulls fighting for victory” before their August vote) was “too much, too late.”
The regulation would have mandated poll workers to hand-count ballots after they were electronically filed—an arduous order that local officials warned last week was making it that much harder to find people willing to do the job.
In his ruling, McBurney noted that although the strenuous regulation appeared, on its face, to be consistent with the intent and purpose of the State Election Board, the timing of the rule’s passage and its expedited implementation would only further destabilize the election and seed chaos.
“A rule that introduces a new and substantive role on the eve of election for more than 7,500 poll workers who will not have received any formal, cohesive, or consistent training and that allows for our paper ballots—the only tangible proof of who voted for whom—to be handled multiple times by multiple people following an exhausting Election Day all before they are securely transported to the official tabulation center does not contribute to lessening the tension or boosting the confidence of the public for this election,” McBurney emphasized.
“This election season is fraught; memories of January 6 have not faded away, regardless of one’s view of that date’s fame or infamy,” McBurney wrote. “Anything that adds uncertainty and disorder to the electoral process disserves the public.”
It’s the second consecutive blow to the MAGA movement’s supposed success in the Peach State. On Monday, McBurney torched another component of the far-right overhaul, deciding that local election officials could not stand in the way of voting results and cannot refuse to certify election results. Instead, officials have a duty to certify the results by 5 p.m. on the Monday following Election Day, according to the judge.
“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,” he ruled.
