A 3-2 Republican majority on Georgias State Election Board voted Friday to require local election offices to hand count the states millions of ballots, inviting chaos as experts warned the task would prove impossible in the states largest counties, which lean Democratic.

The rule was just the latest in a string of partisan votes from the board, members of which Donald Trump praised by name at a rally in Georgia last month. A few weeks ago, the board empowered county election officials many of whom have challenged election results in the past to personally investigate election results and demand reams of election-related documentation, potentially delaying the certification of the states results.

The board was made more partisan as part of a Trumpian election overhaul bill passed in 2021 after Trump lost the state in the 2020 presidential election.

Fridays rule requires a hand count of all ballots by individual poll managers and two sworn poll officers. If there are any inconsistencies, including between the hand counts and ballot tabulators, they must be resolved. The rule will disproportionately affect Georgias largest counties, which lean blue and were key to President Joe Biden s narrow win in the state in 2020. Nearly 5 million people voted in the 2020 presidential election in Georgia.

The states Republican attorney generals office advised the board that the change one of several rules under consideration Friday was likely unlawful, and it will likely face a challenge in court. The previous rule changes regarding the certification of election results and access to election documentation are currently facing a suit from Georgia Democrats .

These proposed rules are not tethered to any statute and are, therefore, likely the precise type of impermissible legislation that agencies cannot do, a senior attorney in Georgia Attorney General Chris Carrs office wrote .

The new rule increases the likelihood that the certification of election results will be delayed in Georgia. And if the state happens to end up determining the winner of the 2024 election which isnt unlikely such a delay could lay the groundwork for a broader effort to determine the presidency through a legal or political fight, or a 2020-style election subversion campaign.

There are already measures in place in Georgia and elsewhere to certify that the correct number of ballots have been tallied in a given precinct just as there are already avenues for candidates who suspect election fraud to challenge results in court. Critics say giving additional responsibilities to local election officials just six weeks before Election Day is a recipe for disrupting the election and sowing doubts about the results.