Updated Sep 28, 2020 - Politics & Policy

Judge orders Georgia to have paper backups of pollbooks on Election Day

Fadel Allassan

Long lines in Georgia. — A long line in Atlanta for Georgia's primary election on June 9. Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/Getty Images

A federal judge on Monday ruled that polling places in Georgia must have at least one paper backup list of eligible voters, in case the electronic pollbooks used to check voter registration malfunction on Election Day.

The big picture: Voting integrity activists who brought the suit have argued the order could keep long lines, like the ones seen in Georgia's June primary, from forming again. The order also requires the state to have emergency paper ballots on hand in the case of voting machine malfunction.

The latest order by U.S. District Judge Amy Totenberg, obtained by Georgia Public Broadcasting, comes more than a month after she ruled against requiring Georgia to convert to paper ballots filled out by hand.

What she's saying: "It is not too late for (election officials) to take these reasonable concrete measures to mitigate the real potential harms that would otherwise likely transpire at precinct polling locations grappling with the boiling brew created by the combination of new voting equipment issues and old voter data system deficiencies," wrote Totenberg in her latest order.

The other side: Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the state plans to appeal the ruling, AP reports.

State officials "are preparing Georgia for the biggest election turnout in history, and it will do so successfully despite the constant distraction of litigation filed by activists determined to undermine the credibility of our elections," Raffensperger said.

Read the full order, obtained by Georgia Public Broadcasting, via DocumentCloud:

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Judge orders Georgia to have paper backups of pollbooks on Election Day

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