Election results must be certified, Fulton County judge rules
Georgia counties must certify election results, judge rules
A Georgia judge ruled county election officials cannot delay or decline election result certification. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney says officials cannot exclude any group of votes from certification, even if they suspect error or fraud.
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - A Fulton County Superior Court judge ruled Monday that election results in Georgia must be certified, rejecting a lawsuit seeking discretion over the certification process.
The lawsuit was filed by Julie Adams, a member of the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections, who argued that she should be allowed to withhold certification if she believed the results were incorrect or unreliable. However, Judge Robert McBurney emphasized that certification is a mandatory duty of election superintendents.
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ATLANTA, GEORGIA - MAY 24: A roll of stickers sit on a table as people vote during the Georgia primary at the Metropolitan Library on May 24, 2022 in Atlanta, Georgia. Election Day allows people to vote on Republican and Democratic nominees for offic
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McBurney clarified in his order that while superintendents can investigate concerns about miscounts and report any persistent issues to a prosecutor, those concerns do not permit them to delay or decline certification. He stressed that certification is a "mandatory fixed obligation" and cannot be bypassed based on individual doubts or suspicions.
Adams, a Republican, had previously refused to certify the May primary election results, raising questions about election procedures.
The judge also warned that allowing superintendents to act unilaterally could undermine voters' voices, stating, "If election superintendents were, as [Adams] urges, free to play investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge... Georgia voters would be silenced."
The ruling comes as early voting begins in the state, a crucial battleground in the 2024 election, with both Kamala Harris and Donald Trump actively engaging Georgia’s voters.