Atlanta – The state and national Democratic Party demanded on Friday to block two new rules adopted by the Georgia State Board of Elections that could be used by county officials who want to refuse to issue election certificates, which could cause delays in finalizing state results.
The lawsuit, filed before a state judge in Atlanta, says the rule violates a state law that makes certification a mandatory duty. The lawsuit asked a judge to find the rule invalid because the State Board of Elections, now dominated by allies of former President Donald Trump, exceeded its legal authority.
The council’s action has alarmed Democrats and voting rights activists, against the background of Georgia’s partisan struggle over election procedures that precede the 2020 presidential election. It is a battle in other states over what has long been administrative: the certification of state and local council results.
The lawsuit said the rule invited post-election chaos, that the board violated a state law that says county officials “shall certify” the results, and that more than a century of court precedent in Georgia found county officials had no wiggle room.
“According to the drafters, this rule depends on the assumption that the certification of election results by the district council is discretionary and subject to free-ranging inquiry that can delay the certification or foreclose it entirely. But that is not the law in Georgia” stated in the lawsuit, filed in Fulton County Superior Court.
Pro-Trump Republicans argue the rule only strengthens the duty of county election boards to scrutinize election results, noting that each board member must swear to collect “true and perfect” results.
“These common-sense changes will benefit all Georgians, regardless of political affiliation because they are all designed to increase transparency and public confidence in our elections,” state Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon said in a statement defending the rule change. mentioned earlier on Monday. the lawsuit was made public.
A trio of Trump-aligned Republican partisans took control of the five-member regulatory board earlier this year. It has no direct role in determining election results, but writes rules to ensure that elections run smoothly and hears complaints about violations.
Trump praised the members by name during an Aug. 3 rally in Atlanta, saying the three were “all pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory,” but criticized Democrats on the board and the nonpartisan chair appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp. he said they were “not good.”
That, plus McKoon praising the takeover of the board and later emailing the proposed rules to council members, has led Democrats to allege the once sleepy council is now a direct tool of Trump.
“Georgia’s state board of elections is an equal co-conspirator in this effort to suppress our vote,” Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath said Monday at a news conference at the Georgia Capitol. “By passing these new rules, they are making it harder to count votes and certify elections so that Donald Trump can once again try to destroy our country.”
The Democratic state senator and former chairman of the Fulton County board of elections has sent a letter demanding Kemp remove three members Trump appointed for violating state ethics laws. Kemp on Monday asked Republican Attorney General Chris Carr to determine whether Kemp has legal jurisdiction to consider the suit.
The Democratic lawsuit specifically cited language added by one rule to require county election officials to conduct “reasonable inquiries” before certifying. It also takes away another rule that allows county election officials “to examine all election-related documentation produced during the conduct of an election.”
Alleged fraud or wrongdoing should be dealt with by the courts, not by county officials as a result, according to the suit, citing more than a century of Georgia court rulings.
While the new rule could be read consistently with Georgia law, it only allows for checks or inspections that will not delay certification, “which is not what the drafters of the rule intended,” the lawsuit said, citing testimony before the board.
The first rule does not define “reasonable inquiry” and the second “has no basis in the election code or case law,” the lawsuit said.
It is unclear whether the district can successfully deny certification. He will face a lawsuit asking a judge to order the county board to perform its legal duties. And it’s unlikely that Fulton County or any of the five most populous counties in the state, all reliably Democratic, would deny certification. However, the refusal to certify will likely come from smaller, more Republican districts.
In Georgia, state officials must order Coffee County to certify in 2020. In May, Republican-appointed Fulton County Board of Elections member Julie Adams refused to certify primary election results after she filed a lawsuit supported by the America First Policy Institute. that aligns with Trump. who argued that district election board members have discretion to deny certification.
The lawsuit was filed by county election board members from counties in metro Atlanta, most elected by the local Democratic Party, as well as Democratic-leaning voters, two Democratic state lawmakers running for re-election and the state and national Democratic parties.
