Appeals court in crucial Georgia declines to expedite case on election certification

ATLANTA — An appeals court in the battleground state of Georgia declined Friday to expedite review of an appeal of a judge’s order that county election officials must vote to certify results by the deadline set in law.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled this month that “no election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance.” His ruling came in a lawsuit filed by Julie Adams a Republican member of the election board in Fulton County, which includes most of Atlanta and is a Democratic stronghold.

Adams, who had sought a declaration saying her duties as an election board member were discretionary, appealed that order Wednesday and asked the Georgia Court of Appeals to hear it on an expedited basis.

“If this appeal proceeds in the ordinary course, then this appeal will not be fully briefed (let alone decided) until long after Election Day,” her lawyers argued in a motion.

But the appeals court’s decision means that McBurney’s order will almost certainly remain in effect through the deadline for county officials to certify results, which this year falls on Nov. 12. A lawyer for Adams declined to comment on the appeals court decision.

Adams has asked the appeals court to weigh in on McBurney’s assertion that she is required to vote in favor of certifying election results because of the deadline provided for in the law.

McBurney had also noted in his order that if Adams were to find fraud or abuse, she could file an election contest in the courts. She asked the appeals court to rule on whether that is a “sufficient and proper remedy” for her if she finds “fraud, error, mistakes, or abuse” before the deadline.

The traditionally routine administrative task of vote certification has become an arena for political disputes since then-President Donald Trump tried to overturn his loss to Joe Biden in the 2020 election.

Several swing-state Republicans, including Adams, refused to certify results earlier this year, and some have sued to keep from being forced to sign off on election results.