Eternal Vigilance Action, Inc. v. Georgia
What's at Stake
The ACLU and partner organizations have sought to intervene in this case to represent the rights of voters and voting-rights organizations in a case challenging a number of rules passed by the Georgia State Election Board. We challenge a rule that requires that the number of votes cast be hand counted at the polling place prior to the tabulation of votes. This rule risks delay and spoliation of ballots, putting in danger voters’ rights to have their votes count.
Summary
In mid-September, Eternal Vigilance Action, Inc., and two Georgia voters challenged State Election Board rules that would allow standardless investigations that were primed to cause delay in certifying the vote. Then, on September 20, just 46 days before the general election, the State Election Board passed another series of rules, including one that would require three poll workers at every precinct to independently hand count the number of ballots cast prior to the ballot boxes being sealed and delivered for tabulation. On September 25, the original plaintiffs amended their complaint to add a challenge to these new rules.
Representing the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP, the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, Inc., the ACLU, along with ACLU of Georgia, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, and the law firm, Morgan Lewis, sought to intervene in the case. We specifically challenge the hand counting rule as being inconsistent with Georgia statutes governing the procedures at the close of the polls and beyond the authority of the State Election Board.
Update: On October 16, 2024, the court permanently blocked the hand-counting rule, along with several other disruptive and unlawful changes to election rules that were adopted by the State Election Board. On October 22, 2024, the Supreme Court of Georgia denied an emergency attempt by the Republican National Committee to reverse the court's order.
Legal Documents
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10/22/2024
Order Denying Petitioners' Motion for Emergency Supersedeas -
10/21/2024
Opposition to the Emergency Motion for Supersedeas of the Georgia State Conference of the NAACP and Georgia Coalition for the Peoples' Agenda -
10/19/2024
Emergency Motion for Supersedeas of the Republican National Committee and Georgia Republican Party -
10/16/2024
Order Granting Declaratory and Injunctive Relief -
10/11/2024
Brief of Intervenor Plaintiffs Georgia State Conference of the NAACP and Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, Inc. -
10/01/2024
Georgia State Conference of the NAACP and Georgia Coalition for the People's Agenda, Inc. Joint Motion to Intervene and Memorandum of Law in Support -
10/01/2024
Complaint in Intervention -
09/25/2024
First Amended Complaint
Date Filed: 10/22/2024
Affiliate: Georgia
Date Filed: 10/21/2024
Affiliate: Georgia
Date Filed: 10/19/2024
Affiliate: Georgia
Date Filed: 10/16/2024
Affiliate: Georgia
Date Filed: 10/11/2024
Affiliate: Georgia
Date Filed: 10/01/2024
Affiliate: Georgia
Date Filed: 10/01/2024
Affiliate: Georgia
Date Filed: 09/25/2024
Affiliate: Georgia
Press Releases
Court Blocks Georgia’s New Hand Counting Rule in Victory for Voters
Civil Rights Groups Intervene in Lawsuit Challenging Georgia’s New Hand Counting Rule