The Court of Appeals of Georgia issued an order on Thursday, transferring a major legal battle over state election rules to the Supreme Court of Georgia. The case, Georgia Republican Party Inc. v. DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections, is moving to the state’s highest bench because it raises fundamental constitutional questions that intermediate courts do not have the power to resolve.
The legal dispute began when the Georgia Republican Party appealed a lower trial court’s decision. In that initial ruling, the trial court granted summary judgment to DeKalb County and its Board of Registration and Elections. Crucially, the trial judge found that both the “Daily Reporting Rule” and the “Poll Watching Rule”—regulations created and put forward by the State Election Board—violated the nondelegation doctrine of the Georgia Constitution.
This doctrine prevents administrative boards from overstepping their bounds and taking on lawmaking powers that belong strictly to the state legislature.
Because the case hinges entirely on a constitutional challenge, the Court of Appeals stepped aside. In its transfer order, the court noted that the Supreme Court of Georgia “has exclusive jurisdiction over all cases involving construction of the Constitution of the State of Georgia and of the United States and all cases in which the constitutionality of a law, ordinance, or constitutional provision has been called into question.”
This is not the first time these specific voting rules have sparked litigation. In a 2025 case, Republican National Committee v. Eternal Vigilance Action, Inc., the Georgia Supreme Court looked at challenges to the Daily Reporting and Poll Watching rules. However, the high court dismissed that previous case strictly on standing grounds, meaning the plaintiffs did not have the specific legal right to bring the lawsuit. Because of that technical dismissal, the state’s top judges never actually addressed whether the rules themselves violated the constitution.
The current case presents a different scenario. The trial court explicitly ruled that the DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections and DeKalb County did have proper standing to sue, and the judge then directly ruled on the constitutional nondelegation question.
Because a lower court issued a distinct, direct ruling on a constitutional issue, the Court of Appeals determined it had no choice but to pass the matter up the ladder.
The appellate court concluded its order by leaving the final decisions to the high court, stating, “As that Court has the ultimate responsibility for determining appellate jurisdiction… we hereby TRANSFER this appeal to the Supreme Court for disposition.”
The Supreme Court of Georgia will now take over the case to review the constitutionality of the state’s election rules. No date has been set yet for the high court to hear arguments or issue a final ruling.
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