The state and national Republican parties 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 Georgia judge deemed seven Republican-backed changes to the election code illegal, unconstitutional, and too last-minute to implement effectively. The State Election Board said the rules were aimed at countering potential voter fraud.

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.

A Georgia judge has halted a controversial new requirement for thousands of election workers to hand-count ballots in the November election.

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