'Huge defeat for Trump': Georgia judge's ruling spurs cheers and relief

A Georgia judge's ruling Tuesday that state boards must certify results, regardless of any election fraud suspicions, spurred sighs of relief from those who feared former President Donald Trump could unjustly claim the state on Nov. 5.

Fulton County Judge Robert McBurney was championed Tuesday after he nixed a new rule from pro-Trump election board members that he argued would result in Georgie voter's being "silenced."

Tristen Snell, a former New York prosecutor who successfully sued Trump University, called the ruling a loss for the Republican presidential nominee and former president. "Huge victory for democracy," Snell wrote. "Huge defeat for Trump's attempts to scuttle the election."

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In his ruling, McBurney found certification of election results were mandatory under Georgia law and no election board “may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstances," reported the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

“Georgia voters would be silenced,” McBurney wrote. “Our Constitution and our election code do not allow for that to happen.”

Gabriel Sterling, conservative chief operating officer for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, heralded the decision as the right one.

"Great news!" he wrote on X. "Another step in keeping to guardrails in place to safeguard our elections.

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Election lawyer Marc Elias described the decision as "a big defeat for election deniers in Georgia."

Carrie Levine, managing editor of the nonprofit and nonpartisan news outlet VoteBeat, shared the news with followers with a gentle jab at the Fulton County judge, whose ruling included a "Lord of the Rings" quotation, "You shall not pass!"

"A judge today ruled that county boards of election in Georgia must certify elections, full stop," Levine wrote. "He quoted Gandalf...so make of that what you will."