The state and national Republican parties say they are appealing a judge’s ruling that said seven election rules recently passed by Georgia’s State Election Board are “illegal, unconstitutional and void.

A judge in the US state of Georgia has blocked seven new state election rules favoured by Republican Donald Trump after finding that they would unnecessarily interfere with the voting process. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox on Wednesday struck down a rule that requires that ballots be counted by hand,

Cox Jr. struck down seven new rules from the board, including a controversial ballot hand-count rule that another judge had already temporarily blocked on Tuesday. Cox ruled that all seven rules recently passed by the board contradicted the state's election laws and exceeded the state board's authority.

A judge overturned changes to Georgia election rules made by a Republican-controlled state board in August, in a case brought by a conservative group that argued the changes would disrupt voting rights ahead of the Nov.

The ruling prevents implementation of a series of decisions that critics had said threatened to cause chaos in the battleground state this election season.

A Georgia state judge on Tuesday temporarily blocked a controversial rule supported by allies of former President Donald Trump that election administrators feared would cause last-minute chaos in the election.