Georgia Election Board Orders Hand-Counting Ballots. Critics say that could significantly delay reporting of results in battleground state? Thoughts?

[DrPepper12]

The Georgia State Election Board voted on Friday to force counties to hand-count all ballots cast on Election Day, a move critics say could significantly delay the reporting of results in the battleground state and inject chaos into the post-election period.

The new rule, which passed on a 3-2 vote, runs counter to extensive legal advice from the top election official and law enforcement officials in the state. A nonpartisan collective of local election officials had also objected to the change.

The new rule is the latest in a stream of right-wing election policies passed by the State Election Board over the past few months. The board has come under increasing pressure from critics already concerned that it has been rewriting the rules of the game in a key swing state to favor former President Donald J. Trump. Last month, the board granted local officials new power over certifying the election, which opponents say could potentially disrupt the process if Mr. Trump loses in November.

The new rule to require hand counting in addition to a machine count, critics argue, could introduce errors and confusion into the process and potential disrupt the custody of ballots.

This will guarantee election integrity.

This is gonna be an unprecedented shit show & there will be violence in the interim.

Updates

1 y

Even FOX NEWS reports hand counts are LESS accurate AND most MAGA candidates OPPOSE it!

www.google.com/.../...ng-measures-survey-finds.amp

[Caroline91]

If the count were challenged, it might result in a hand count anyway. So on the one hand, it might appear to be a good thing. And I don’t think saying the results will be delayed is a valid argument because accuracy needs to be supported over speed.

However there is a reason all those officials are objecting to the change and I would like to know what that is. Given who is promoting the change, I would suspect there is a plan to get custody of the ballots and have something “happen” to them or to alter at least some of them.

[DrPepper12]

Correct. This increases potential claims of ballot insecurities and tampering. It's just a bad idea unless legally triggered by close margins.

[Anonymous]

The humans are the ones you can't trust. They'll make sure Trump people are counting all the votes.

[AviatorTom]

It's really unclear what the new rule is.

Some say it's just a hand count of the number of ballots, to verify the machine count of ballots is correct.

Others say it's a hand count of the votes for each candidate in every race, to verify the machine count of votes is correct.

The former wouldn't delay things much. The latter would cause a huge delay.

It's likely there will be a court challenge to determine if this rule change is legal, and to define exactly what the rule requires.

[DrPepper12]

Excellent cogent rational analysis!! TY!!

[MisterWack]

Thank you for making these clear because I sure as Hell thought it was good on a surface level, this definitely shows there’s more under the hood.
I honestly don’t care about the delays / not finding out on election night though I do care about accuracy & making sure everyone’s vote is counted.

[blueonblack22]

No matter where you stand politically it’s best to maintain election integrity at all costs. Don’t leave any doubts.

But I really hope this doesn’t end in a repeat of the 2000 Bush / Gore election. If Harris and Trump are tied electorally in November and the election results are delayed because the back up in Georgia things are going to get extremely ugly.

[DrPepper12]

Hand counts lessen ballot integrity and are less accurate than machines.

[blueonblack22]

Yeah I thought about that. Plus Georgia already has system planned out for machine counting. Not sure wtf to say about this.

However I am not theorizing who this going to help (democrats or republicans) on this one. Georgia is a swing state too.

[GoodGuyBreakingBad]

This will guarantee election integrity

[DrPepper12]

This will guarantee delays and produce less accurate results and disagreement with machine count.

[OtterMan68]

didn't MAGA accuse democrats of hiding ballots under the table last time?

Doesn't matter how they are counted or who does the counting, if Trump loses Georgia, they'll cry "rigged!"

[DrPepper12]

This is true. Whiny little bitch that he is...

[llorando]

I've supported hand counted ballots since the 2016 primary so I see this as a win for election integrity. FYI, during the 2016 primary, Chicago election officials were caught, during audits of voting machines, erasing Sanders votes, and adding Hillary votes so the hand counted audit matched the machine results, and ever since I've been a strong supporter of replacing voting machines with hand counted ballots.

[DrPepper12]

False.

Hand counts lessen ballot integrity and are less accurate than machines.

[llorando]

It's not false, electronic voting machines can be hacked, manipulated and programmed to alter the results just like they were in 2016 for Hillary. Paper ballots hand counted out in the open for everyone to witness, is the best way to ensure election integrity.
Voting machine portion of this video starts at the 21 minute mark, and is from Chicago board of elections official YouTube account.
m.youtube.com/watch

[DrPepper12]

I think the secretaries of state in the 50 states and the board of elections throughout the United States would know what's best for them and it's NOT paper

[Ladsin2]

"The new rule is the latest in a stream of right-wing election policies passed by the State Election Board over the past few months. The board has come under increasing pressure from critics already concerned that it has been rewriting the rules of the game in a key swing state to favor former President Donald J. Trump."
How does having a human recount favor Trump? What's the argument for that?

[DrPepper12]

Hand counts lessen ballot integrity and are less accurate than machines. Then courts get involved. MAGAs begin to grab pitchforks and torches.

[Ladsin2]

Is there any research to support that hypothesis? I'm aware human error being what it is that it's likely less reliable than technology, but this is just a recount not solely human count. I'm old enough to remember after the 2016 election when all the democrats including Amy Klobuchar, Adam Schiff, and the illustrious Kamala Harris were talking about how the voting machine was hacked and it was a fraudulent election.

To me it seems that a mixture of human and technological verification methods would make people feel more secure, not less.

[Juxtapose]

This is fantastic and we should completely do away with machines when counting votes. It should all be done by hand and the votes should only be done on election day. No early voting, no voting past election day and so on.

[DrPepper12]

Disagree on all but for the issue at hand (pun intended) they are LESS accurate and open up claims of ballot insecurity with more hands on the ballots.

www.google.com/.../...ng-measures-survey-finds.amp

[Avicenna]

What a shocker- Democrats hate anything that will make it harder for their cheating operations in the Atlanta area and introduce more accountability.

[DrPepper12]

Hand counts lessen ballot integrity and are less accurate than machines. See linked article above.

[Avicenna]

No they don’t. You just don’t like them because Democrats can run the same ballots through multiple times since the counts have to match.

[DrPepper12]

MAGA secy of states & county BoE are the ones who don't wanna hand count!! READ the article!

[CaptainSmartass]

Hand-counting ballots works fine in the UK. I know several people who have worked on election counts.

Simples...

[DrPepper12]

Yes but you have ONE national election for 70 million. We have 3,243 elections for 346 million.

Is it ALL hand counted or just when margins are close?

[CaptainSmartass]

Its all hand counted, but the counts take place in each town, and the figures are reported by a senior official (usually someone high up at the local council), and then added to the national total. If the margins are close, the candidates/officials can ask for a recount.

[RedInnocent69]

Well yeah, it will definitely slow things down, but lots of places have manual counts. Not convinced it leads to more integrity as long as candidates are scrutineering the counts.

[DrPepper12]

Yes but hand recounts are only triggered by close margins. This law requires it even for blowouts.

[exitseven]

better to be a little late than have an incorrect result.

[DrPepper12]

Hand counting increases the likelihood of errors and disagreement between machine count.

[Red_Arrow]

Many counties and states have deadlines that results have to be completed by and certified. So it is illegal to not do so by the dates. Unclear what happens then.

[exitseven]

not when the machines are crooked.

[Dargil]

They need to hire more poll workers.

[DrPepper12]

Agreed but 1) many are fearful of violence 2) the pay is shit 3) they're all elderly.

[Dargil]

Armed security would help. Kaden and DeShawn wouldn't bother the poll workers, then.

[DrPepper12]

It's right wing violence they're afraid of

[MisterWack]

My response: Good.

[DrPepper12]

It's less accurate.
It's insecure.
MAGA election officials dont support it.