Georgia's Republican-controlled state election board was preparing to vote on Friday on whether to require a labor-intensive hand count of potentially millions of ballots in November's election, a move voting rights advocates say could cause delays,

The state election board was recently taken over by a conservative majority. Its latest proposals are dangerously late in the process and most likely illegal, according to the secretary of state.

Some states use hand counts when conducting recounts in close elections, or as part of routine post-election audits, said Mark Lindeman, the policy and strategy director for Verified Voting, which supports the responsible use of technology in elections. A handful of tiny jurisdictions use hand counts in place of voting machines.