A Fulton County, Ga., Superior Court judge ruled late Monday that election-board members are mandated to certify election result — even if they suspect election fraud, a crime or systemic error.
But Julie Adams, the Fulton County Board of Registrations and Elections member who brought the suit against the county, hailed the ruling as a victory. She and her attorneys say she’s now been granted what she was previously denied: complete access to the election procedures and materials of the election.
“It is my belief that having access to the entire election process will allow every board member to know and have confidence in the true and accurate results before the time for certification,” Adams said in a statement released by the America First Policy Institute, whose attorneys worked with local counsel on the case.
Judge Robert McBurney’s 11-page finding comes as eyes turn to the Peach State, where polls show former President Donald Trump is slightly ahead of Vice President Kamala Harris. Early voting began in Georgia Tuesday and runs through Nov. 1, four days before Election Day.
Trump’s 2020 loss in Georgia to Joe Biden by fewer than 12,000 votes — about one-quarter of a percent — triggered his frantic efforts to overturn those results, which resulted in Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis’ contentious criminal charges against the ex-prez.
McBurney ruled that Adams “must” certify results within a week of balloting. He wrote there are “some things an election superintendent must do, either in a certain way or by a certain time, with no discretion to do otherwise. Certification is one of those things.”
That means if Adams, or any other official, is worried about fraud or miscounting of ballots, that’s a matter for a prosecutor, the judge said.
“While the superintendent must investigate concerns about miscounts and must report those concerns to a prosecutor if they persist after she investigates, the existence of those concerns, those doubts, and those worries is not cause to delay or decline certification.”
Adams voted against certifying the results of Georgia’s March presidential primary, saying officials didn’t give her “scores” of documents requested before the certification deadline, rendering her “unable to fulfill her oath of office.”
That argument didn’t fly with the jurist.
“[T]here 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 a footnote.
Adams’ complaint is one of several cases challenging Georgia’s election rules and practices.
McBurney is hearing a case Tuesday in which Cobb County is seeking to blunt new rules the State Election Board enacted, including one requiring a completed hand count of ballots on election night.
