Republicans challenge the decision of a Georgia judge annulling recently implemented contentious election regulations
Lawyers for the Republican National Committee and Georgia Republican Party filed an appeal directly to the Georgia Supreme Court on Thursday, bypassing the intermediate court. This is allowed by the Georgia Supreme Court, which has the power to review election contest cases or specific constitutional challenges without waiting for the intermediate court's opinion. The Supreme Court has the discretion to reject the direct appeal.
In a statement issued Thursday evening, RNC chairman Michael Whatley criticized the ruling made by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox the day prior. He described the ruling as the epitome of judicial overreach.
"The judge's decision to overrule the Georgia State Election Board's commonsense measures designed to secure our elections sided with the Democrats in their assault on transparency, accountability, and the integrity of our electoral process," Whatley stated. "We've promptly appealed this egregious decree to safeguard common-sense regulations for the election. We won't let this stand."
Cox nullified seven principles implemented by Georgia's State Election Board, including one that demanded county election officials to carry out a reasonable inquiry into election results before certifying them and another that enabled them to examine all election-related documents created throughout the election process before certifying the results.
"This court announces that these rules are unlawful, unconstitutional, and null and void," Cox wrote in his Wednesday ruling.
The judge also eliminated principles that would have required officials to manually count the number of ballots cast at each polling station on Election Day and broadened access for poll watchers in more areas.
The ongoing political controversy surrounding the election in Georgia led the Republican National Committee and Georgia Republican Party to file a direct appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court, bypassing the intermediate court. Their appeal stems from the ruling made by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox, which they believe to be an example of judicial overreach, as it overruled the Georgia State Election Board's efforts to secure the elections.
