A Georgia state court has decided that local election officials don’t have the option to drag their feet or refuse to certify election results, no matter how much they might want to. According to a ruling from Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, the law is pretty clear: election officials have a firm, non-negotiable duty to get those results certified, come what may.
In the ruling, McBurney pointed out that the U.S. Constitution doesn’t give election officials the freedom to act as some sort of rogue agents who decide on their own if results are valid. Imagine that—letting one official play investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge all in one, and deciding whether the voters’ voices get heard based on their personal opinions. The judge made it clear that such a scenario would essentially silence Georgia voters, and last time anyone checked, the Constitution doesn’t support that kind of power play.
Julie Adams, a Republican on the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections, had brought the case forward. She seemed to think that certifying election results was more of a suggestion than a requirement, arguing her role gave her discretion to certify or not. But McBurney wasn’t having any of it, clarifying that Georgia’s election law isn’t up for creative interpretation when it comes to certifying results. It’s not some optional checkbox.
Adams’ argument would essentially allow individual election officials to gum up the process if they didn’t personally like how the results were turning out. It’s not exactly a comforting thought—especially when everyone’s sick of the drama surrounding elections. The ruling puts the ball back in the voters’ court, ensuring that the process, whether we like the outcome or not, stays in the hands of the electorate.
At the end of the day, this ruling reinforces what should be a basic concept: local officials don’t get to pick and choose when they want to do their jobs. Certifying the results is mandatory, not an option for anyone with a personal axe to grind. Voters, not officials, are supposed to decide elections, and that’s the bottom line.
