Among the new rules, ballots will be hand counted on election night, potentially delaying reporting of the swing state's results.

The key battleground state of Georgia’s election board voted Friday to force ballots to be hand-counted three times before a result is declared.

As one of multiple motions on changing how elections are run, less than 50 days out from the November 5 election, the new rule was passed 3-2 by the conservative-leaning panel.

The changes come after Donald Trump heavily criticized the way the state handled the 2020 election results, repeatedly and falsely claiming he won the state.

President Joe Biden narrowly won in Georgia, with 49.5 percent of the vote against Trump’s 49.2 percent.

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Critics have claimed the board, which has swung more to the right, is trying to rewrite the rules to favor former president and Republican candidate Donald Trump.

In a letter Thursday, the office of Georgia’s Attorney General issued a warning that the board was pushing rules that “very likely exceed the board’s statutory authority”, while voting rights groups had also raised concerns.

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