With early voting in Georgia already underway, a Fulton County judge has halted any enforcement of a new election rule regarding hand-counting ballots. According to a Tuesday court filing, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled to stop implementation of the hand count rule. This comes after the State Election Board last month passed the rule requiring that three poll workers each count the paper ballots — not votes — by hand after the polls close. The Cobb County Election Board then filed a lawsuit seeking to have a judge declare that rule and five others recently passed by the state board invalid, saying they exceed the state board’s authority, weren’t adopted in compliance with the law and are unreasonable. MORE: https://www.wthr.com/article/news/politics/elections/fulton-county-judge-halts-enforcement-hand-counting-ballots-2024-election/85-6e5e9c3b-24e2-464c-8567-d36de370804e