The rulings are victories for Democrats, liberal voting rights groups and some legal experts who have raised concerns over Donald Trump’s allies.

The judge ruled that “Georgia voters would be silenced” if county election board members were “free to play investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge” and refuse to certify election results.

Judge Robert McBurney in Fulton County Superior Court in Atlanta denied a request from a Republican member of the county's election board to declare that she had discretion to decline to certify the results if there were concerns about the process.