Judge blocks battleground state from restricting poll watchers during election: report

A judge in Georgia has forced state officials in the battleground state to allow poll watchers on Tuesday as voters in the Peach State cast their ballots in the midterm primary elections, according to reports.

"A Fulton County judge just issued a temporary restraining order forcing Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office to allow poll watchers and State Election Board observers to monitor the tabulation and reporting of today’s election results," Greg Bluestein, chief political reporter for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, wrote on X.

Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville granted a temporary restraining order against Brad Raffensperger’s office, and the court order outlined that designated poll watchers have the right to observe "the tabulation, aggregation, verification, and reporting of election results at the Secretary of State’s central office, Election Night Reporting Room, or any other facility or location where county results are received, processed, aggregated, verified, recorded or reported on May 19, 2026."

Raffensperger’s office cannot restrict or exclude the state's election board-designated observers, monitors or authorized representatives — and they should be granted "proximity and vantage points from which they can meaningfully observe all activities without interfering with the orderly conduct of election operations."