Warnock: Georgia hand-counted ballot rule is ‘effort to turn the democracy on its head’

Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock (D) said Sunday that his state’s hand-counted ballot rule is an “effort to turn the democracy on its head.”

“The news that Georgia voters [ought to be] paying attention to is this: The fact that they are doing this, means that they know we’re winning,” Warnock said on “Inside with Jen Psaki” on MSNBC. 

“They know that the momentum is with Kamala Harris, and this effort to turn the democracy on its head, so that rather than the voters picking their representatives, the folks who are running get to pick their voters — it won’t stand.”

On Friday, Georgia’s election board ruled that ballots must be hand-counted by local precincts in spite of concerns from election officials and opposition from some state officials.

The board ruled 3-2 to require ballots to be hand-counted on top of the already-occurring machine count. The decision came with less than 50 days before Election Day.

Even prominent Republicans such as Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had raised concerns in the past over the hand-counting of ballots. After the rules were passed, he indicated there could be rough seas ahead.

“Attorney General Chris Carr has stated that these rules would not withstand a legal challenge, and I have worked every day to strengthen Georgia’s election law to ensure our elections remain safe, secure, and free,” Raffensperger said in the wake of the votes.

In his appearance on MSNBC on Sunday, Warnock noted he is “old enough to remember Florida [in] 2000.”

“We all saw the mess that that was, and we don’t need that here again in Georgia, so we will continue to press the issue,” he added later.

The Hill has reached out to the Georgia State Election Board.