Georgia's top court will not fast-track appeal in blocked US election rules case

By Jack Queen

(Reuters) -The U.S. swing state of Georgia's top court declined on Tuesday to hear an expedited appeal by Republicans of a ruling blocking new rules that would have empowered county officials to challenge election results.

The decision could prevent the rules from taking effect before the Nov. 5 presidential election, unless Republicans mount a successful challenge to the U.S. Supreme Court, with a 6-3 conservative majority including three Donald Trump appointees.

The six rules, passed by the board in a 3-2 vote, empower county election board members to investigate discrepancies between the number of ballots cast and voters in each precinct, and examine troves of election-related documents before certifying their results.

Georgia Supreme Court justices unanimously denied an emergency motion to pause an order blocking the rules and expedite their review of the case, a docket entry showed, meaning the appeal is unlikely to be decided until next year.

The American Civil Liberties Union, which intervened in the case to block the rules, praised the decision in a statement, saying the election board had sought to "inject chaos and confusion into our democratic system."

An election board representative and lawyers for the Republican National Committee, which intervened in the case on the board's behalf, did not immediately respond to requests for comment.

The changes by the election board were powered by three allies of former U.S. President Donald Trump, who lost to Democrat Joe Biden in Georgia in the 2020 election and made false claims of widespread voting fraud. Some senior Republicans continue to refuse to say that Biden was fairly elected in 2020.

Georgia is one of seven closely contested states that are expected to determine the winner of the presidential race between Democrat Kamala Harris and Republican Trump. U.S. presidential elections are decided through state-by-state results, not by a majority in the national popular vote.

Judge Thomas Cox on Oct. 16 struck down the rules described by Republicans as necessary election security measures but which Democrats said were aimed at impeding certification of results in a state that could be crucial in selecting the next president.

Cox said the rules contradicted state law and found that the board had overstepped its legal authority in several ways.

"The rules at issue exceed or are in conflict with specific provisions of the Election Code. Thus, the challenged rules are unlawful and void," Cox wrote.

The board's passage of the rules drew bipartisan criticism. The conservative group that brought the case on Sept. 11, Eternal Vigilance Action, argued the Georgia board exceeded its legal authority in making the changes.

Republican Brad Raffensperger, who as secretary of state is Georgia's top election official, has said that the election board's "11th-hour" changes would damage voter confidence and burden election workers.

States must certify their voting results - confirming the accurate tabulation of the votes cast - as part of the process of determining a presidential election's outcome.

Trump supporters stormed the U.S. Capitol in January 2021 in a failed bid to prevent Congress from certifying the voting results from November 2020 election. Democrats now are accusing Republicans in various states of seeking to delay or prevent certification of voting results unfavorable to Trump.

(Reporting by Luc Cohen and Jack Queen; Editing by Noeleen Walder and Richard Chang)