Local election officials don’t have an option when it comes to certifying the election results this November by the state deadline, a Georgia judge ruled Tuesday.
The ruling from Judge Robert C. I. McBurney rejected a request from Julie Adams, a Republican member of Atlanta’s Fulton County election board, for a court declaration that she has the option not to certify election results. Adams, who is one of five members on her board, refused to certify results in a May primary election and said she should have the right to do that again if she believes results are incorrect or unreliable because she has taken an oath to “prevent any fraud, deceit, or abuse.”
The ruling provides what could be useful clarity in Georgia amid rising fears that local officials may sow chaos after the November election by refusing to certify results by the state’s deadline, which falls on Nov. 12 this year – one week after the election. Across the country, local officials have increasingly refused to certify results in the wake of the 2020, when former President Donald Trump tried to overturn his election loss.