A Georgia judge issued a declaration on Tuesday that the 2024 presidential election result must be certified by an “immovable deadline” of Nov. 12 after two recent rules passed by the state Board of Elections were challenged by Democrats.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that the Georgia election results must be certified by a Nov. 12 deadline, one week after the Nov. 5 Election Day. The Georgia Democratic Party and the Democratic National Committee challenged two recent rule changes by state election officials that they warned could lead to delays in the certification of the results and to chaos.
At issue was a rule that would give Georgia county officials the discretion to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” of ballots before certifying the results. The second rule passed by the state’s election board permits election officials to examine all election-related documentation before certification. Both were passed by 3-2 votes, with Republican members of the election board in the majority.
“To be clear, there are no limits placed on this investigation (other than, of course, the immovable deadline for certification, discussed below). Thus, within a mandatory ministerial task — thou shalt certify! — there are discretionary subtasks. The freedom allowed with the subtasks does not convert the overarching fixed obligation into a discretionary role,” McBurney wrote in an 11-page decision.
The judge’s decision made no clear mention of either rule but made a firm declaration that no delays to the hard deadline to certify results may occur.