Georgia’s Election Board voted on Tuesday to institute two new election security measures following widespread allegations that Former President Joe Biden’s 2020 victory in the state was due to fraud.
“State Election Board votes 3-1 to adopt a rule based on this petition to require ballots be hand counted at the precinct level by 3 poll officers each day of voting to ensure the totals match with the machines,” said former Trump Campaign spokeswoman Liz Harrington on X.
The first of the new measures requires that three sworn poll officers hand count ballots before the results are certified; if a discrepancy is discovered, officers must record the discrepancy, and, if they are unable to resolve the issue, the results will not be certified.
The new rule seeks to prevent discrepancies, whether caused by intentional interference or mechanical error, between the number of ballots inserted into a voting machine, and the number of votes recorded.
The hand counted ballots will then be placed in sealed containers which cannot be opened without breaking the seal.
Each of the sworn-in officials will be required to sign the ballot box after counting them, certifying the number of ballots.
The rule also allows the Republican-led Election Board to examine all election records in the case of discrepancies before they certify the election results.
The proposed measure was supported by the board’s three Republicans, and was opposed by its one Democrat.
Current rules require the election to be certified despite discrepancies, and the new rules would stop that policy.
In a unanimous decision, the board approved one other election security measure.
“Georgia State Election Board also votes 4-0 to adopt rule based on petition to require a public reconciliation report for each precinct showing the number of voters and the number of votes match,” said Harrington on X.
That rule would require that election officials submit information verifying that the number of recorded votes matches the number of people who were recorded as voting in the election.
If the rules are ultimately implemented, they have the potential to alter the results of the Georgia election and, since Georgia is a key swing state, the overall results of the general election.
Despite the votes in favor of the measures, they will not officially go into effect unless they are finalized in August.
