The state that handed former President Donald Trump one of his narrowest losses four years ago is immersed in election controversies even before the first ballots of this year's presidential race are cast.

The pleas from dozens of Georgia election board leaders and staffers on Friday weren’t enough to dissuade State Election Board members from approving a new rule requiring poll workers to hand count ballots on Election Day in November.

The Georgia State Election Board will require hand counts of all votes in the November election and confirm the figures match machine counts. Paper ballots are now required to be counted at each polling place by three separate poll workers.

The Georgia State Election Board is set to vote Friday on several election rules that have raised red flags among voting rights organizations, Democrats and county election officials in advance of the November general election.