Georgia judge to decide if the state's MAGA election board broke the law

Georgia’s Republican-controlled election board will go to trial on Tuesday after Democrats sued to block a last-minute rule change that could delay certification of the vote in November, Reuters reported. 

In a 3-2 vote last month, the Georgia Election Board, led by allies of former President Donald Trump, passed a rule that allows county election board members to conduct an undefined "reasonable inquiry" into election results before certifying them. Democrats sued, arguing the rules run afoul of state law requiring officials to certify elections by a specified date.

"According to their drafters, these rules rest on the assumption that certification of election results by a county board is discretionary and subject to free-ranging inquiry that may delay certification or render it wholly optional," Democrats claimed in a brief ahead of the trial, USA Today reported. 

Democrats are requesting that Judge Robert C. I. McBurney issue a “declaratory judgment” to clarify that the state certification deadline of Nov. 12 is mandatory and that no new rule can change that. The judge will decide the case next week without a jury. 

Separately, Democrats are also suing over another late rule change that would require Georgia election workers to count ballots by hand, the Associated Press reported.