Last Friday, Georgia’s state election board voted 3-2 to approve a new election rule: before vote totals can be reported, each precinct must confirm the total number of votes cast by three separate hand counts.

The move was spearheaded by a pro-Trump majority who say that it will make elections more transparent. But critics – among them many of Georgia’s election administrators – said hand counts would take too long, cost money and almost certainly produce counting errors, opening the door to doubts about the election results in November. The office of the Republican state attorney general, which is responsible for advising the board, wrote in an opinion that the change was unlawful.

This rule is the latest in a string of new election measures passed by the pro-Trump election board. Democracy advocates have accused the board of intentionally injecting chaos and uncertainty into the presidential contest.

Today on “Post Reports, host Elahe Izadi speaks with Amy Gardner, who covers voting for the Post, about how the rule change could affect the November election.

Today’s show was produced by Emma Talkoff, with help from Lucas Trevor. It was mixed by Sean Carter. And edited by Monica Campbell, with help from Reena Flores. Thanks to Griff Witte.

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The new Georgia rule that could cause election chaos

Post Reports