FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: October 18, 2024
CONTACT: Dorrie Toney, [email protected]
ATLANTA — An appeal has been filed challenging a state court ruling that blocked the Georgia State Election Board’s recently passed rule requiring the hand counting of ballots in the upcoming November election.
The Republican Party filed the appeal today with the Georgia Supreme Court.
Earlier this month, a coalition of civil rights organizations intervened in a lawsuit challenging the rule. The intervenors, the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP and Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, argued that the rule would invite error and cause delays, making it much harder for the state to meet the certification deadline and jeopardizing the right to vote. A court agreed with them and on October 16, blocked the rule and several other unlawful changes to election rules that were recently adopted by the Board.
"We were proud to represent our clients and the interests of Georgia voters and local elections officials in preventing an unelected State Election Board from rewriting our election code, injecting chaos into the democratic system in the immediate run-up to the November election,” said Andrea Young, executive director, ACLU of Georgia. “Early voting has begun and over 1 million Georgians have already cast their ballots. Judge Cox's ruling prevented a rule change in the middle of the game. We were pleased that the trial court agreed with us, and look forward to making our case before the State's highest court next."
The civil rights organizations are represented by the American Civil Liberties Union, ACLU of Georgia, Lawyers' Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and law firm Morgan Lewis.