Episode Details

On the Friday September 20th edition of Georgia Today: The Georgia Election Board passes a rule requiring a hand-count of ballots; Vice President Kamala Harris rallies voters in Atlanta; And hundreds of students across the state walk out to demonstrate for gun safety.

Peter Biello: Welcome to the Georgia Today podcast from GPB News. Today is Friday, September 20th. I'm Peter Biello. On today's episode, the Georgia Election Board passes a rule requiring a hand count of ballots. Vice President Kamala Harris rallies voters in Atlanta and hundreds of students across the state walk out to demonstrate for gun safety. These stories and more are coming up on this edition of Georgia Today.

Story 1:

Peter Biello: The state election board passed arguably the most contentious of 11 new rules that it had been considering at a closely watched meeting today. The vote goes against the advice of Georgia's secretary of state, attorney general and local election officials. GPB's Grant Blankenship reports from the state capitol.

Grant Blankenship: A 3 to 2 largely party-line vote approved the rule, mandating a hand count of paper ballots at the close of polls at every poll site before the actual tabulation of votes or even before submitting them to county election heads. Many local elections directors who spoke before the vote, like Tate Hall of Cobb County, said they oppose the rule because its mere passage violates the federal National Voting Rights Act. By coming inside the 90 day quiet period before an election.

Tate Hall: Yesterday, Cobb County emailed just over 1000 ballots to our uniformed and overseas voters. First ballots are out the door. The election has officially begun.

Grant Blankenship: In a memo to the state election board, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said the hand count of ballot rule is not at all supported by state law. Carr said other proposed rules were likely an overstep of board authority, too. For GPB News, I'm Grant Blankenship in Atlanta.

Caption

Kamala Harris

Story 2:

Peter Biello: For the first time since she ascended to the top of the Democratic ticket, Vice President Kamala Harris is expected to deliver a speech focused squarely on abortion rights. The speech is scheduled for this afternoon in Cobb County, north of Atlanta. And it comes as reports emerge of women dying in the wake of Georgia's abortion ban. It's part of a turn toward personal stories her campaign is focusing on. GPB's Chase McGee reports, last night, she rallied voters in an online event featuring Oprah Winfrey and guests from Georgia.

Chase McGee: Rally guests included a student shot and injured during a school shooting at Apalachee High School. A gunman opened fire in her ninth grade algebra class. Flanked by her parents, Natalie Griffith spoke with Harris about her injuries.

Kamala Harris: Where were you shot? Where were you physically shot?

Natalie Griffith. Right here on my shoulder and then around here. Right wrist.

Chase McGee: Harris says she plans to address gun violence with policy, saying that while she supports the Second Amendment, she also supports common sense legislation, including an assault weapons ban. Other guests included a Georgia mother who lost her daughter after delayed abortion care. For GPB News, I'm Chase McGee.

Peter Biello: Meanwhile, Donald Trump's campaign is expected to announce a blitz of Trump Vance appearances next week, including a Savannah rally. The former presid