Georgia Gov. Kemp Asks State AG if He Can Oust Pro-Trump Election Board Members Amid Ethics Concerns, Election Law Changes

Georgia Governor Brian Kemp (R) asked his state’s attorney general on Monday for “guidance” regarding whether or not he has the power to remove State Election Board members amid outcry over the changes being made to how Georgia elections will be administered in the run-up to the 2024 election.

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution’s Greg Bluestein reported on Monday that “Kemp’s office is asking the AG for guidance on whether he has the authority to remove members of the State Election Board. Voting rights groups, Democrats and even some Republicans have raised alarms about the rightwing majority’s recent votes.”

Bluestein shared a statement from Kemp’s office that read, “This office has received Senator Nabilah Islam Parkes and other’s letters alleging ethics violations by members of the State Elections Board. Due to uncertainty regarding whether this office has authority to act under Code Section 45-10-4 in response to these complaints, we have sought the Attorney General’s advice regarding the application of the statute to the letters. We will respond following receipt of this advice and further evaluation of the letters.”

The State Election Board in question is now dominated by a pro-Trump three-person block that has made changes to the board, including stripping Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) from chairing the board.

Democratic state Sen. Nabilah Islam-Parkes is accusing the Trump-aligned board members of holding their meetings in violation of state ethics rules.

“Three of the board members violated the Open Meetings Act and the state code of ethics,” Islam-Parkes told local media, adding, “They didn’t send out a notice to the public. They were warned by their own general counsel. They had it anyway.”

Former AJC reporter Jay Bookman published an op-ed last week detailing some of the changes the three-person majority on the board has made so far. “Thanks to laws passed by Trump allies in the state Legislature, Raffensperger has been removed from the election board. Other members were removed as well, eventually handing control of the board to a three-member MAGA majority that is dedicated not to free and fair elections but to elections that Trump can win. Trump himself, at a recent rally in Georgia, celebrated those three members, by name, as his “pitbulls” for victory,” Bookman wrote , later adding:

They are passing a series of last-minute, unnecessary, unrealistic and in some cases illegal rule changes in how elections are conducted. They have done so despite clear warnings from local election officials that they are “setting up 159 counties for failure.” According to the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials, those changes will “create unnecessary confusion among both the public and the dedicated poll workers and election officials who are critical to ensuring a smooth and efficient voting process.”

If those warnings prove valid, if county election officials have indeed been set up for failure through rules they cannot realistically honor, then Trump will have the excuse he needs to challenge the election outcome and delay or halt certification.

Trump contested the 2020 election results in Georgia and famously pressured Raffensperger to “find him” enough votes to win the state. Kemp, Raffensperger, and other elected Republican officials in the state joined together to rebuke Trump’s claims of voter fraud in 2020, which resulted in Trump publicly attacking Kemp . Trump and his allies have been indicted in Fulton County over their alleged efforts to overturn the election results in Georgia and are awaiting trial.