Georgia State Election Board adopts rule to ensure number of ballots matches total voters

The Georgia State Election Board (SEB) on Monday adopted a rule that requires the number of ballots and voters be the same before the certification of election results.

The rule ensures that counties comply with Georgia state code. It comes after Fulton County was found to have likely scanned thousands of ballots twice in a recount of the 2020 election.

"The purpose of the rule is to ensure that county superintendents and boards of elections follow the required procedures and can uniformly, properly, and lawfully fulfill their duties, and reconcile the number of ballots to the number of voters so that certification of election results accurately reflects the will of the voters in every county," the rule reads.

“The rule is built on basic, kindergarten math,” Election Integrity Network Founder Cleta Mitchell said Monday. “Count the number of voters, confirm that the number of voters match the number of ballots. Those numbers should match and should be the same as the number of votes tabulated. The duty for election officials to certify CORRECT results is required under the statute. The rule just makes sure it happens in every county.”

“If election officials want the American people to become election BELIEVERS again, these are the important procedures that must be made part of the election process in Georgia and every other state,” she added.

Also on Monday, the SEB voted to adopt a rule that will require all polling places have signage that states only U.S. citizens can vote.