Fulton County judge decides seven Georgia State Election Board rules are 'illegal'

A Fulton County judge on Wednesday decided that seven election rules passed by the Georgia State Election Board are "illegal" and declared them invalid.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox said that the new rules are “illegal, unconstitutional and void,” the Associated Press reported.

One of the rules required hand-counting while two others focused on election certification, with one requiring county election officials to conduct a "reasonable inquiry" before certifying election results and another allowing officials “to examine all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections.”

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ordered a pause on Tuesday of the State Election Board's hand-count rule that would have required each county to hand-count ballots to ensure the voting machines totals at each polling place.

The rule was set to take effect on Oct. 22. Under the rule, the counters would make sure the total of the paper ballots matched the electronic machine total of ballots cast, not the amount of votes that each candidate received.

This also comes the same week that another Fulton County judge ruled officials cannot delay or refuse to certify election results.