RJ Godfrey has a career night as Georgia takes down North Florida.

UGA basketball handed the undefeated North Florida Ospreys their first loss 90-77 Tuesday
evening. Georgia’s offense stole the show shooting 53.4 percent from the field and scoring 48
points in the paint. Clemson transfer forward RJ Godfrey posted career highs in points and
rebounds with a 21 point, 12 rebound double double. Godfrey was just two rebounds shy of a
double double at halftime. Silas Demary Jr. and Tyrin Lawrence also shined, leading the Georgia
backcourt in scoring for the second consecutive game.

The Dawgs defense impressed, holding a high scoring North Florida offense to 12.6 points under
its season average. Georgia’s freshman frontcourt duo of Asa Newell and Somto Cyril combined
for 5 blocks, continuing to make it difficult for opponents to score in the paint. In the last 3
minutes of the first half, the tenacious Georgia defense forced 3 straight turnovers, helping them
take a commanding 43 to 31 lead at the half.

North Florida hit back-to-back threes cutting the Georgia lead to just 9 points with 9:46
remaining in the second half. The Hoop Dawgs responded to this adversity by controlling the rest
of the game on both sides of the floor.

This was an impressive win for UGA considering North Florida’s early success this season
beating both Georgia Tech and South Carolina. Building momentum with performances like this
one will be key for Coach White’s team as tougher challenges await.

Georgia will go on the road for the first time this season to take on in-state rival

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ATLANTA — Every county in Georgia has certified the results of the 2024 general election, a notable step after some Republican local election board members earlier this year declined to certify other results.

Typically an uncontroversial procedural move, disputes over election certification cropped up in several states in 2020, when supporters of then-President Donald Trump amplified baseless claims of widespread fraud.

The 2020 examples led to worries about what would happen following the 2024 election, with Trump again on the ballot, even as election officials and experts maintained that certification is mandatory and legal guardrails would minimize disruptions.

But with Trump’s win in Georgia and in every swing state across the country this year, claims about widespread election fraud have largely dissipated — as have concerns about certification.

A particular focus in Georgia

Each state has its own deadlines for certification of election results at the local and state levels. Georgia’s local deadline is among the earliest.

Ahead of the 2024 election, battles over certification were most pronounced in Georgia, where Republicans on the State Election Board approved rules that seemingly allowed local election board members to vote against certifying election results.

A judge later invalidated the rules, declaring them “illegal, unconstitutional and void.” Georgia law says local election boards must certify election results by 5 p.m. on Nov. 12.

But that did not stop some local election board members from pressing the courts to rule they have discretion to vote against certifying the results.

One local Republican board member, Julie Adams of Fulton County, continued to push ahead in her own lawsuit, even after a judge ruled her certification duties mandatory, not discretionary.

Adams had declined to certify election results on several occasions, saying she had not been able to independently verify the integrity of the results. Following the November election that saw Trump and others win in Georgia, she voted to certify those results, though she expressed reservations. 

“I think it’s absolutely ridiculous to have a court order saying I have to vote yes,” Adams said Tuesday.

Fulton County election board member Julie Adams, a Republican, is seen at the Fulton County Election Hub and Operation Center on Nov. 5.

John Bazemore/AP

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In Metro Atlanta’s most populous counties — DeKalb, Fulton, Cobb and Gwinnett — at least one local Republican board member abstained or voted against certifying results from elections earlier in the year. After the November election, all four boards certified the results unanimously.

Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger will next complete the state certification before presidential electors meet in December.

“Election integrity doesn’t happen just in the 11th hour, as some fringe activists claimed to try to do this past month. It is planned years in advance,” Raffensperger told reporters on Tuesday morning. “I believe every county will be in good shape and have it done.”

While concerns about irregularities and certification have fallen off, they have not disappeared entirely. Some local board members pressed election officials for clarity about minor discrepancies in the results before voting to certify.

A handful of Republicans, like Fulton County board member Michael Heekin, are now calling on the state legislature to empower local election board members with the discretion to vote against certifying results in future elections.

And some activists have signaled they will continue to raise concerns about election administration, like criticism of Georgia’s voting machines and voter list maintenance. 

“It’s completely different”

But for local voting officials who were preparing to be in the eye of the storm for weeks on end after voting finished, the relative calm has felt like a seismic shift compared to 2020.

“It’s completely different,” said Lisa Tollefson, county clerk for Rock County, Wis. “This time four years ago, I was getting nasty phone calls constantly in my office and we had police protection for a while.”

Her county board of canvassers met Monday to verify the general election results. At a similar meeting in 2020, there were a dozen or more observers, Tollefson said.

This year: “I had one observer,” she said. “That’s it.”

Lisa Posthumus Lyons, a clerk in Kent County, Mich., said media attention on the administration of elections also died down almost immediately after Michigan was called for Trump.

“All eyes were on us, and the second we hit midnight almost, it was like they were going to turn into a pumpkin or something and they were gone,” Lyons said. “It’s not just that it’s less tense, but it just seems less interesting to others.”

NPR’s Miles Parks contributed reporting.

WASHINGTON, D.C. – The Supreme Court refused Tuesday to let former Trump White House chief of staff Mark Meadows move the election interference case against him in Georgia to federal court, where he would have argued he was immune from prosecution.

The justices did not detail their reasoning in a brief order, as is typical. There were no publicly noted dissents.

Meadows was one of 19 people indicted in Georgia and accused of participating in an illegal scheme to keep then-president Donald Trump in power after he lost the 2020 election. Trump was also charged, though after he won reelection last week to a second term any trial appears unlikely, at least while he holds office. Both men have denied wrongdoing.

It’s unclear what effect the election results could have on others charged in the case, which is largely on hold after an appeals court agreed to review whether to remove Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis over her romantic relationship with the special prosecutor she had hired to lead the case.

Meadows had gone to the Supreme Court in an effort to move the charges out of Georgia courts. He argues the case belongs in federal court because it relates to his duties as a federal official. He pointed to the Supreme Court ruling giving Trump broad immunity from criminal prosecution to support his argument.

“A White House chief of staff facing criminal charges based on actions relating to his work for the president of the United States should not be a close call —especially now that this court has recognized that federal immunity impacts what evidence can be considered, not just what conduct can form the basis for liability,” his attorneys wrote.

But prosecutors said that Meadows failed to show he was carrying out official duties during the alleged scheme, including participating in a phone call where Trump suggested Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger could help “find” votes he needed to win the state.

They argued the case should stay with Georgia courts, and Meadows can raise federal defenses there. Prosecutors also pushed back against the contention that the charges could have ripple effects on other federal officials.

“His references to the overheated words of opinion editorials cannot suffice to demonstrate that a new era of ubiquitous prosecution of former federal officials is at hand,” government attorneys wrote.

A U.S. district judge and the 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals both ruled that the case against Meadows and some of his co-defendants should remain in state court. A federal judge has also refused to move an Arizona fake elector case against him there to federal court.

Four people have already pleaded guilty in the Georgia election case after reaching deals with prosecutors. The remaining 15, including Trump and Meadows, have pleaded not guilty.