More partisan sparring at Georgia election board following controversial hand-counting rule and TV interviews

(CNN) — The Georgia State Election Board meeting became contentious on Monday as two members of the Republican-controlled board defended their reasons for approving a controversial new election rule requiring county election officials to hand-count the number of ballots cast on Election Day.Friday’s vote was 3-2, with three Donald Trump allies supporting the move, and a Democratic and independent GOP-appointed member of the board strongly opposing it, calling it an added step that could delay the results of the presidential election in the battleground state.Trump last month praised the three GOP members for their efforts.Monday, one of those Republicans, Dr. Janice Johnson, decried what she said were media inaccuracies and partisan attacks.“The so-called news is delivered as a scary fairy tale or perhaps an end-of-the-world apocalypse tale.” Johnson said. “Everyone should take a deep breath and calm down all because of attention to the mundane unexciting chain of custody processes.”Monday’s meeting was a continuation of Friday’s agenda and was expected to be routine until board members started to bicker.Johnson’s speech was followed by a contentious back-and-forth between Republican Janelle King, a media personality who is the board’s newest member, and Sara Tindall Ghazal, the board’s lone sitting Democrat. King took...