Election officials forced to certify results even if fraud is suspected

A Georgia judge ruled on Monday that county election officials are required to certify election results by a certain deadline even if the officials have concerns of voter fraud or other election issues.

In Monday’s ruling, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney said, “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,” according to Fox News.

While McBurney said county election officials have the right to investigate voting concerns, he emphasized that “any delay in receiving such information is not a basis for refusing to certify the election results or abstaining from doing so.”

Fox News reported that Georgia’s individual counties will be required to certify election results by 5 p.m. on the Monday or Tuesday following the election. The outlet also noted that Monday’s ruling came just as Georgia started the early in-person voting process, which will end on November 1.

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In his ruling, McBurney wrote, “If election superintendents were, as Plaintiff urges, free to play investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge and so — because of a unilateral determination of error or fraud — refuse to certify election results, Georgia voters would be silenced. Our Constitution and our Election Code do not allow for that to happen.”

According to Fox News, the Georgia judge’s ruling came after a lawsuit was filed by Julie Adams, a member of the Fulton County Board of Registration and Election. Adams’ lawsuit against the Fulton County Elections Board, which was backed by the America First Policy Institute, came after she voted against certifying the presidential primary results in May.

In her lawsuit, Adams claimed that she was “unable to fulfill her oath of office” as a superintendent after she was denied a documents request, according to The Hill. Adams argued that she was acting within her rights by not certifying the results.

McBurney ruled that Georgia law does not give county election officials authority to determine whether fraud has occurred during an election or what should be done about suspected fraud. McBurney wrote, “Concerns about fraud or systemic error are to be noted and shared with the appropriate authorities but they are not a basis for a superintendent to decline to certify.”