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Appeals court in crucial Georgia won’t expedite case on election certification

By Katie Brumback
Updated  October 25, 2024 7:37pm EDT
2024 Election
Associated Press

 

    • The Georgia Court of Appeals has declined to expedite the review of an appeal challenging a judge's order for election officials to certify results by a legally set deadline.
    • Judge Robert McBurney ruled that election officials cannot refuse to certify election results under any circumstances, in response to a lawsuit by Republican Julie Adams.
    • Julie Adams appealed the ruling, seeking expedited consideration due to the looming certification deadline, but the court's decision means the ruling is likely to remain in place past the deadline.
    • Adams has raised questions about whether she has discretion in the certification process and what her remedies are if she suspects fraud or abuse before the certification deadline.
    • The process of vote certification has become politically contentious since attempts to contest the 2020 presidential election results, with some officials like Adams previously refusing to certify.

ATLANTA - An appeals court in the battleground state of Georgia declined Friday to expedite review of an appeal of a judge’s order that county election officials must vote to certify results by the deadline set in law.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled this month that "no election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance." His ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Julie Adams a Republican member of the election board in Fulton County, which includes most of Atlanta and is a Democratic stronghold.

Adams, who had sought a declaration saying her duties as an election board member were discretionary, appealed that order Wednesday and asked the Georgia Court of Appeals to hear it on an expedited basis.

"If this appeal proceeds in the ordinary course, then this appeal will not be fully briefed (let alone decided) until long after Election Day," her lawyers argued in a motion.

But the appeals court’s decision means that McBurney’s order will almost certainly remain in effect through the deadline for county officials to certify results, which this year falls on Nov. 12. A lawyer for Adams declined to comment on the appeals court decision.

Adams has asked the appeals court to weigh in on McBurney’s assertion that she is required to vote in favor of certifying election results because of the deadline provided for in the law.

McBurney had also noted in his order that if Adams were to find fraud or abuse, she could file an election contest in the courts. She asked the appeals court to rule on whether that is a "sufficient and proper remedy" for her if she finds "fraud, error, mistakes, or abuse" before the deadline.

The traditionally routine administrative task of vote certification has become an arena for political disputes since then-President Donald Trump tried to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Several swing-state Republicans, including Adams, refused to certify results earlier this year, and some have sued to keep from being forced to sign off on election results.

The Source

  • Original report from The Associated Press