Philadelphia DA sues Elon Musk over controversial $1 million voter giveaway

(ATLANTA) — The Republican-led Georgia State Election Board on Friday passed a major rule change just a few weeks before the November election requiring the hand-counting of all ballots, prompting fears from both sides of the aisle of potential long delays in the reporting of election results.

The rule, passed 3-2 with the Republican members leading the way, now requires the hand counting of ballots at each precinct in addition to the customary machine count.

Under the new rule, poll workers would need to unseal and remove ballots from the machine scanners and three poll officers would need to independently hand count the total number of ballots in stacks, arriving at the same total.

Proponents of the rule change downplayed fears of delays and concerns about breaks in chains of custody, during a heating hearing and argued the change would bring more integrity and transparency to the state’s election procedures.

“You’re pulling them out of a pile and you’re strictly going to go to the corner and you’re just going to count those ballots. Now, how difficult is that? That is not a big deal. I mean, in my opinion, that’s not a big deal,” Sharlene Alexander, who helped present the measure to the board, said.

Former President Donald Trump has publicly praised the push from the Republican members to implement additional measures. He continues to claim fraud in the 2020 election and that he won Georgia without any legitimate evidence.

During an Atlanta rally in August, Trump called the Republican board members who have pushed the changes “pit bulls fighting for victory.”

He also specifically praised the proposal that would require the independent verification of ballots from three different election workers, asking the crowd, “Who could be against that? Who could be against it?”

“My last comment is this vote, this board voted to have on the record that we’ll be going against the advice of our legal counsel by voting in the affirmative. We will have no further discussion,” Chairman John Fervier, who was appointed Chair by Georgia’s Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, said Friday as he strongly criticized the board’s decision.

Many state officials have already raised concerns about the feasibility and legality of the last-minute changes, and during the meeting election workers spoke up about the burdens this rule change would have on election workers.

“What I do in my county is not what my neighboring county does. They do not have the resources to do that. So, to say that it would not cause delays on election night is not true or accurate. It will cause delays for certain counties,” Rebecca England, an election worker from Greene County, said during a discussion about the burden the change would put on election officials.

The election board rejected a proposal that would have required hand-counting during early voting, which begins on Oct. 15.

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr, a Republican, opposed the rule changes and his office issued a warning to the board ahead of today’s meeting, specifically laying out how approving the hand-counting proposal likely violates state law warned the board that it may not be lawful.

“There are thus no provisions in the statutes cited in support of these proposed rules that permit counting the number of ballots by hand at the precinct level prior to delivery to the election superintendent for tabulation,” his office wrote in a letter to the election board Thursday.

“Accordingly, these proposed rules are not tethered to any statute- — and are, therefore, likely the precise type of impermissible legislation that agencies cannot do,” the letter continued.

An attorney for Brad Raffensperger, Georgia’s secretary of state, who was allegedly pressured by Former President Donald Trump not to certify the 2020 election, also sent a letter to the board warning the board not to go through with the changes at such a late stage.

While raising concerns about potential delays, Raffensperger assured voters that he “fully anticipate[s]” election results will be certified by Nov. 12, in compliance with state law.

Vice President Kamala Harris and other groups have filed lawsuits against the changes contending that they will cause disruptions to the certification process.

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(GEORGIA) — One day after a Georgia judge invalidated the state’s controversial “hand count” rule, a separate judge Wednesday evening invalidated even more rules that were passed by the Republican-led state election board, declaring them “unlawful and void.”

Fulton County Judge Thomas Cox ruled after an hours-long hearing to invalidate seven rules total, including the hand count rule, finding in part that the board did not have the authority to enact them.

Cox made clear that the State of Georgia and the State Election Board “are hereby DIRECTED TO IMMEDIATELY REMOVE THESE RULES FROM THEIR ROLES AND OFFICIAL REPORTING” and to “IMMEDIATELY INFORM ALL STATE AND LOCAL ELECTION OFFICIALS THAT THESE RULES ARE VOID AND ARE NOT TO BE FOLLOWED,” in his decision.

The rules now invalidated include a rule calling county officials to certify election results after “reasonable inquiry.”

Cox wrote in his order that rule “adds an additional and undefined step into the certification process” and that it is “inconsistent with and unsupported” by state law.

He also invalidated a rule that “requires that a person delivering an absentee ballot provide a signature and photo ID at the time the absentee ballot is delivered.”

The judge said in his ruling that state provisions don’t require that.

“The SEB thus has no authority to require such presentment as a condition of accepting and counting an otherwise properly delivered ballot,” Cox wrote.

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(WASHINGTON) — President-elect Donald Trump selected Rep. Elise Stefanik to be his U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, multiple Trump officials told ABC News.

“I am honored to nominate Chairwoman Elise Stefanik to serve in my Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations. Elise is an incredibly strong, tough, and smart America First fighter,” Trump said in a statement to ABC News.

Stefanik, a Republican congresswoman from New York’s 21st District, was elected last week to her sixth term in the House. Born in 1984, she was at time of her 2014 election the youngest woman to ever win a seat in Congress.

She joined House leadership in May 2021, when she was elected as chair of the House Republican Conference. She replaced former Rep. Liz Cheney in the role after Cheney was denounced by her party for her criticism of Trump in the wake of Jan. 6.

Stefanik came to Congress as a relatively moderate Republican and skipped the 2016 Republican National Convention when Trump first became the party’s presidential nominee.

But she became one of Trump’s most vocal allies, denouncing his first impeachment in 2019 and later challenging the 2020 election results.

In the past year, she played a leading role in House Republicans’ response to antisemitism on college campuses. She grilled university presidents on their handling of campus protests over the Israel-Hamas war, several of whom later stepped down from their roles.

Stefanik, a staunch supporter of Israel, has also repeatedly accused the United Nations of antisemitism. She has called for defunding the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees, the chief distributer of aid in Gaza, amid Israel’s allegations that Hamas infiltrated the group.

Stefanik told the New York Post, which first reported developments of Trump’s decision, that she was “truly honored to earn President Trump’s nomination to serve in his Cabinet as U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations.”

Stefanik said that when speaking with Trump, she “shared how deeply humbled I am to accept his nomination and that I look forward to earning the support of my colleagues in the United States Senate.”

Control of the House remains in the balance as several key races have yet to be called, though Republicans are closing in on the number of seats they need to secure the majority.

Stefanik will have to vacate her seat to become ambassador, though she would not be confirmed for her new role until after the presidential inauguration at the earliest.

New York law mandates that Gov. Kathy Hochul set a special election date via proclamation for within 10 days of the seat’s vacancy — and the election date itself must occur no sooner than 70 but no more than 80 days from the date of proclamation.

Stefanik handedly won reelection last week, beating her Democratic challenger by 24 points. While the New York State Republican Party told ABC News they have “no comment on candidates at this stage,” chairman Ed Cox said he was sure the seat would remain Republican.

“On behalf of the New York Republican Party, I congratulate Elise Stefanik and her team on this well-deserved honor and commend President Trump for making such a wise and thoughtful selection,” Cox said, in part, in a statement.

ABC News’ Alexandra Hutzler, Brittany Shepherd, Lauren Peller and Oren Oppenheim contributed to this report.

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