Supporters of the rules say they are necessary to ensure the accuracy of the vote totals before county election officials sign off on them; critics worry that supporters of Republican presidential nominee former President Donald Trump could use the rules to delay or deny certification if the former president loses.

A Georgia judge overseeing Democrats’ challenges to new election rules created by the state’s Republican-majority election board seemed less than enthused about the idea of tossing out those rules on Tuesday,

While the rules don't change the deadline, Democrats fear local officials will point to the rules in order to refuse to certify the results on time.Start the day smarter. Get all the news you need in your inbox each morning.