A Georgia judge ruled Monday that election officials must certify election results even if the results show “more votes than voters.”
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that “no election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance,” even if there is a “non-sensical result.” McBurney did, however, agree that election superintendents have a responsibility to investigate discrepancies and are entitled to review election-related materials as part of this process.
Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections (FCBRE) member Julie Adams, who brought the suit, argued (as described by McBurney’s ruling) in part that “it is proper for her, as a co-election superintendent who has taken an oath to ‘prevent any fraud, deceit, or abuse’ to exercise discretion in certifying election results — a conclusion, which, if correct, would empower her to refuse to certify if she believed the results to be incorrect or not sufficiently reliable to merit certification.”
The Democratic Party of Georgia threatened Adams with legal action after she did not certify the results of the March presidential preference primary. Adams initially filed a suit in May seeking clarification about her role. Adams said she refused to certify the results after she was allegedly denied access to election-related documents and asked that the court clarify her role to be discretionary — meaning members should only certify the results once they are confident the election was administered lawfully — rather than
