Georgia judge tosses order to count ballots by hand

(The Center Square) – After weeks of chaos surrounding the Georgia State Election Board, a judge blocked its order requiring all ballots be counted by hand.

Judge Robert McBurney of the Superior Court of Fulton County issued the stay on Tuesday, just weeks after the Election Board first approved the measure. He said the additional step of counting ballots by hand as well as electronically would lead to “administrative chaos.”

It is one of many controversial election issues in Georgia.

While the board says the election measures it has passed will help ensure election integrity, Democrats say it will hinder voting. The judicial ruling came on the record-setting first day of early voting in Georgia.

More than 300,000 Georgians cast their ballots on Tuesday, according to election officials. That is more than double the 136,000 cast on the first day of early voting in 2020.

“With the record-breaking first day of early voting and accepted absentees we have had over 328,000 total votes cast so far,” Gabriel Sterling, a top state elections official, posted to social media.

Those record numbers continued on Wednesday, when hundreds of thousands more votes were cast.

So far, over half a million Georgia voters have already voted in the 2024 election. That is a 7.2% turnout rate in the state, which has just over 7 million registered voters according to an Election Data Hub from the secretary of state’s office which regularly updates.

“We are seeing another truly solid day of early voting,” Sterling said. “Obviously means that we will break past the half a million votes cast today. That’s 10% of the turnout we saw in 2020. Big numbers!”

Georgia, with its 16 electoral votes, is one of seven consensus battleground states. Presidential candidate stumping has been frequent. There are no state level executive offices on the ballot, nor U.S. Senate seats, and all 14 congressional seats are forecast to remain with current parties in a 9-5 edge to the Grand Old Party.

A new Legislature will be seated in January.

In 2020, President Joe Biden won the state by 0.2% – about 11,000 votes – one of two times since 1980 the Democratic candidate has carried the state.

About 5 million votes were cast in the 2020 election, a little over half by early voting.

So far, Trump is polling better in the state than he was in 2020. Trump is leading the Project 538 polling average in the state by 1.7%, up from a 1% lead of just two days ago.

Outside of polling, multiple models have also predicted Trump will win Georgia, partly based on polls, but also based on other factors.

Polymarket, a cryptocurrency gambling website, predicts that Trump currently has a 65% chance of winning Georgia.

This is in line with The Hill’s prediction, in conjunction with DecisionDesk HQ, that Trump has a 64% chance of winning.

Early voting will continue until the last Friday, Nov. 1, before Election Day.