Georgia local officials have duty to certify election, judge rules

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By Caitlin Tremblay

What's going on today?

Plus, SCOTUS released a new orders list.

Election workers in Marietta, Georgia, Oct. 15, 2024. REUTERS/Jayla Whitfield-Anderson

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that local election officials must certify results, denying a request from a Republican member of the county's election board to declare that she had discretion to decline to certify the results if there were concerns about the process.

"If election superintendents were, as Plaintiff urges, free to play investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge and so - because of a unilateral determination of error or fraud - refuse to certify election results, Georgia voters would be silenced," McBurney wrote. Read more about the ruling.

The U.S. Supreme Court, Oct. 8, 2024. REUTERS/Annabelle Gordon/File Photo

The U.S. Supreme Court released a new orders list today. Here are some highlights:

Someday, federal judges in the U.S. will likely be required to abide by a single, nationwide standard for how to compensate the lawyers they've appointed to lead sprawling cases involving hundreds or even thousands of plaintiffs. That day is not today. Alison Frankel looks at a new ruling in the consolidated litigation over allegedly carcinogenic chemical hair relaxer products to explain why.

Check out other recent pieces from our columnists: Alison Frankel and Jenna Greene

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caitlin.tremblay@thomsonreuters.com

@ctrembz

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