Earlier this month, a Georgia judge blocked a slate of new rules passed by the Republican-led State Election Board that were intended to increase accountability and transparency and bolster public confidence in the integrity of the election process.

This week, the Georgia Supreme Court unanimously rejected a Republican bid to expedite an appeal to overturn that ruling, and the campaign of Democratic nominee Vice President Kamala Harris couldn't be more gleeful in celebrating that decision, Fox News reported.

The decision means the new rules that would help guard against possible ballot fraud will not go into effect for this election cycle, if ever, and will likely cause some members of the public to openly doubt and question the purported results of a close election in the state.

Harris campaign celebrates ruling

Following the Georgia Supreme Court's decision on Tuesday not to expedite a Republican appeal of a lower court's order blocking the State Election Board's new ballot security rules from taking effect, the Harris campaign and Georgia Democrats released a joint statement praising that ruling and attacking their political opposition.

"Donald Trump and his MAGA 'pit bulls' in Georgia have tried to create chaos in our elections and sow doubt in the result, but again and again, Democrats have stood strong to protect the votes of all Georgians," the statement said.

Fox News noted that the "MAGA pit bulls" quip was meant to mock former President Trump's praise for the Board's three Republican members, whom he'd previously heralded as "pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency, and victory."

The joint statement from the Harris campaign and Georgia Democrats added, "After more than 1 million Georgians have already voted, today’s ruling means millions more will be able to do so knowing that Trump won’t be able to interfere with the election results when he loses again."

New election integrity rules blocked by county judge

According to the Associated Press, a Georgia judge ruled last week that a slate of seven new election integrity rules passed by the Republican-led State Election Board were "illegal, unconstitutional, and void," and blocked those rules from taking effect.

The most controversial of those new rules was a requirement for three separate election workers in each precinct to hand-count ballots to ensure the machine tabulations were correct, but fierce objections were also lodged against requirements for county officials to conduct a "reasonable inquiry" of any irregularities and to "examine all election-related documentation" before certification.

The judge's order also blocked new requirements for individuals dropping off absentee ballots to prove their identity; after-hours video surveillance of ballot drop boxes; an expansion of areas for poll watchers to stand during tabulation; and daily public updates on votes cast during the early voting period.

State and national Republicans appealed that decision to the Georgia Supreme Court and asked for an expedited ruling to allow the new rules to go into effect before next month's election. However, the justices declined to stay that order or move expeditiously and instead said their review would "proceed in the ordinary course," which will likely take several months.

Georgia GOP chairman responds to "supremely disappointing" ruling

Georgia GOP Chairman Josh McKoon supported the Board's "common sense" rules in an X post and wrote, "Objecting to reasonable access for poll watchers, access to publicly available voter data, reasonable inquiries by election board members to confirm the integrity of the election, and confirming the machine count using poll book records and/or the physical ballots is unimaginably stupid and damaging to public confidence in what is expected to be a closely contested election."

"It is supremely disappointing to observe yet another failure of our judicial system to expeditiously resolve critical questions about our elections process," he continued. "Georgia judges have had no problem expediting other issues, for example supporting the efforts of Georgia Democrats to kick candidates off the ballot."

"The solution for Georgians who have had enough of this sort of thing is to turn out in record numbers to elect Donald Trump and the Republican ticket. We will press our appeal next year and hope for sanity to prevail," the chairman added.