Muscogee County Elections Board pushes back on 11th-hour changes by the Georgia Election Board

COLUMBUS, Ga. ( WRBL ) — We’re just over 10 weeks away from the general election on Nov. 5. Georgia’s election rules and suggested changes to them remain a topic of discussion.

The Republican-controlled Georgia Elections Board has been proposing and making those changes in the run-up to the election. That promoted action this week from the bi-partisan Muscogee County Board of Elections and Registrations.

Local election officials and board members are looking at it like this.

They’re getting ready for the Super Bowl. In this case, the Super Bowl of politics.

And in the final days of that preparation the Republican-majority on the State Elections Board is changing the basic rules of that game.

Here’s what lifelong Republican and chairman of the Muscogee County Board of Elections and Registrations has to say.

“Yeah, I did write a letter to them to slow down,” said U.D. Roberts. “I have not had any conversation with anybody, but I would tell them, Do not rush into anything. Don’t be driven by activists.  Study carefully what you’re doing because it can have implications.”

He was urging other Republicans with control of the State Elections to use caution as they pass and propose new rules for an election that is less than 75 days away.

And he did so in a letter earlier this month to the state board. He has received no response.

Linda Parker – the Democratic appointee to the local board –– is the vice chair. She proposed a resolution this week urging the state board to observe a 90-day quiet period for rules changes in front of an election.

Roberts seconded her motion, and it passed unanimously.

“The state board is proposing new rules and it’s just too late in the game for new rules. I think it’s 74 days to be exact before the election,” said Parker. “And as far as our equipment is concerned – we have been using this equipment since 2020 – it has been proven, it has been tested that this equipment works.”

These are a couple of the proposed rules changes.

Instead of voting machines being sealed and brought to the elections office for tabulation, those machines would be opened when voting closes, with the paper ballots inside removed and counted. That count would then be compared to the number of people who voted at that precinct.

Elections officials fear this could add time and confusion to the counting process.

Another involved printing separate ballots for absentee and provisional ballots. Currently, they are the same ballot.

Muscogee County Elections Director Nancy Boren says because of federal deadlines for military absentee ballots, it would not be possible to implement this change for this election.

“If we use the existing system we have right now, we have proven it works,” Roberts said. “And I think if we throw change in without any description of how this will impact, you’ll have 159 counties deciding how to implement a rule within very few days.”

If these rules go into place at the 11th hour, Roberts is all but certain what the outcome will be.

“So, it will create doubt because it’s unclear how to implement these things this quick,” said Roberts. “And we really need to be careful and proceed carefully  and maybe even refer them to the General Assembly.”

Georgia is a battleground state in the upcoming presidential election – and polling indicates the race between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump will be razor thin.

And after 2020 and all of the uproar, doubt is the last thing that needs to be added to the mix.

“Most of it is doubt,” said Parker. “Putting doubt in the community all over the state. That’s what this new rules, in my opinion, is saying.”

Since the Muscogee County Board passed its resolution calling for a 90-day quiet period, election boards from Cobb, Glynn, Richmond and Lee Counties have reached out seeking the language in that resolution. The state organization that represents elections officials and boards has also asked for it.

Early voting for the Nov. 5 General Election in Georgia starts on Oct. 15. Oct. 7 is the last day to register and be eligible to vote in the November election.

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