Georgia judge rules county election board officials are required to certify election results even if there are fraud, error concerns

A Georgia judge ruled on Monday that local election board members in the state are required to certify election results, even if there are concerns of fraud or errors.

Superior Court of Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney wrote in his decision, “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.”

The case was brought before the judge by Fulton County election board member Julie Adams, who said she had the right to refuse to certify the results of an election if she believes the results are incorrect or unreliable because she had taken an oath to “prevent any fraud, deceit, or abuse,” USA Today reported.

McBurney granted a portion of Adams’ request in her suit regarding access to documents, stating that if county election board officials determine they need election information from their staff, it should be “promptly provided” unless otherwise protected by law or rule. The judge noted, however, “any delay in receiving such information is not a basis for refusing to certify the election results or abstaining from doing so.”

The judge said that if members of the county election board discover what appears to be fraud, they are still required to count all the votes, but report concerns to a prosecutor. The ruling came three weeks before Election Day, with the state having a deadline of November 12 to certify the results.

This comes as some House Democrats have reportedly stated that they are hesitant to certify the results of the election if Trump wins come November.