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STORY: A Georgia judge on Tuesday temporarily halted a new rule that requires poll workers to hand count ballots in the Nov. 5 election.

It’s a blow to former President Donald Trump, whose Republican allies pushed for the change after he lost the battleground state in 2020, and went on to make false claims of widespread voting fraud in the state.

Early voting has begun in Georgia with record numbers counted on Tuesday.

The state is one of seven so-called battleground states, which are likely to determine the presidential contest between Trump and his Democratic opponent, Vice President Kamala Harris.

The hand-count rule was passed in late September by a pro-Trump conservative majority of Georgia's election board.

They said they were attempting to make the November election more secure and transparent.

Democrats had said the change would sow chaos and delay results.

The decision was not immediately available on the court's online docket on Tuesday night, but in a copy of the decision posted by the progressive website Democracy Docket, Judge Robert McBurney said, “Anything that adds uncertainty and disorder to the electoral process disserves the public."

McBurney did not say the rule was illegal, but that it was appropriate to pause it pending further review.

An appeals court could still potentially reverse the decision.

The Harris campaign issued a statement Tuesday hailing the decision as a win for voters.

Representatives of the Georgia State Election Board and Republican National Committee did not immediately respond to requests for comment.