State Election Board doubles down on rules changes

ATLANTA — For the second time this month, the Republican-controlled State Election Board approved a change to Georgia’s election rules critics say could make it easier to delay the official vote count this fall.

The change, which passed 3-2, requires local election officials to submit to the secretary of state a report reconciling the total number of ballots cast in each precinct with the total number of voters who received credit for voting before election results can be certified.

The rules change supporters on the board argued local election officials should have the right to a hand recount of votes before they sign a legal affidavit certifying an election. The board’s three Republican members made the same argument earlier this month when the board voted 3-2 to require election officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” into whether votes have been counted accurately before they certify election results.

Board member Janice Johnston described the rules changes as a way to strengthen the integrity of the elections process by encouraging accuracy and fairness.

But opponents warned the rules changes could set the stage for Republicans in Georgia to sow chaos following the November presidential election if former President Donald Trump fails to carry the state’s 16 electoral votes.

“Trump and his MAGA allies have taken over the Georgia State Election Board to try and give a veneer of legality to their illegal scheme to disrupt the certification of Georgia’s 2024 election results,” said Lauren Groh-Wargo, CEO of Fair Fight, a voting-rights organization founded by two-time Democratic gubernatorial nominee Stacey Abrams. “It’s all with the goal of helping Trump win the Peach State, even if he doesn’t earn a majority of Georgians’ votes.”

Board member Sara Tindall Ghazal, the only Democratic appointee on the board, said it’s too late in the 2024 election cycle for the board to be considering changing the rules. County election offices already have begun accepting applications for absentee ballots, she said.

Others questioned the legal authority of the board to make such changes without the approval of the General Assembly.

“To safeguard our elections, we urge the State Election Board to operate with full transparency and in accordance with Georgia law,” wrote the Democracy Defense Project, a bipartisan group formed recently by former Govs. Nathan Deal and Roy Barnes, former U.S. Sen. Saxby Chambliss, and former Atlanta Mayor Shirley Franklin.

“Making substantive changes to the way votes are counted and certified without legislative action will undoubtedly foster chaos and undermine the confidence that Georgians have in the democratic process. Integrity and foresight must supersede partisanship and haste in the weeks ahead.”

But board member Janelle King, who voted for the rules changes, said most of the opposition has come from those who have warned about potential negative consequences that have yet to occur. She said she’s concerned about discrepancies in vote totals that she said did occur during the 2020 election cycle.

“There were issues. There are (local election) boards that are not confident,” King said. “It’s important that we address what we know occurred.”