Georgia judge to Fulton County election board member: timely certification is mandatory

(This story has been updated with additional comments, and to correct an earlier inaccuracy.)

Local election officials don't have an option when it comes to certifying the election results this November by the state deadline, a Georgia judge ruled.

The late-Monday ruling from Judge Robert C. I. McBurney rejected a request from Julie Adams, a Republican member of Atlanta's Fulton County election board, for a court declaration that she has the option not to certify election results. Adams, who is one of five members on her board, refused to certify results in a May primary election and said she should have the right to do that again if she believes results are incorrect or unreliable because she has taken an oath to “prevent any fraud, deceit, or abuse.”

The ruling provides what could be useful clarity in Georgia amid rising fears that local officials may sow chaos after the November election by refusing to certify results by the state's deadline, which falls on Nov. 12 this year – one week after the election. Across the country, local officials have increasingly refused to certify results in the wake of the 2020, when former President Donald Trump tried to overturn his election loss.

If election board members were "free to play investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge and so -- because of a unilateral determination of error or fraud -- refuse to certify election results, Georgia voters would be silenced," McBurney wrote Monday.

"Our Constitution and our Election Code do not allow for that to happen," he added.

Judge grants documents access, Adams praises ruling

Adams said she needed a court ruling on the issue because she had been threatened with civil litigation and might even face the risk of criminal prosecution for allegedly failing to perform her duties.

McBurney did grant a portion of Adams' request in her lawsuit dealing with access to documents, writing that if county election board members determine they need election information from their staff, the information "should be promptly provided" unless it's protected by a law or rule.

"However, any delay in receiving such information is not a basis for refusing to certify the election results or abstaining from doing so," McBurney added.

In a statement, Adams praised that part of the ruling, and said McBurney had affirmed she has a "duty to ‘cross-check’ the election returns, procedures, etc.," which is "where all of this started."

"It is my belief that having access to the entire election process will allow every board member to know and have confidence in the true and accurate results before the time for certification,” Adams said.

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McBurney wrote that if county election board members uncover what appears to be fraud, they must still count all the votes, but should also report their concerns to a prosecutor.

McBurney is also presiding over a separate case brought by national and state Democrats who wanted him to declare that certification is mandatory after the Georgia State Election Board made some last-minute rule changes that the board's critics fear could be used by local officials as justification for not certifying results. The state board has maintained the new rules don't change the deadline to certify under Georgia state law.

Correction: A previous version of this article misstated the date of the ruling. It was issued on Monday, Oct. 14.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Georgia judge rules counties must certify November election results