Panel makes ‘reasonable inquiry’ part of process but doesn’t say what that means
The Georgia Election Board finalized a rule this past week that requires county election officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying results.
What it didn’t do was define “reasonable inquiry.”
Voting rights advocates said the rule’s “open-ended language” provides a justification for election deniers on county boards to delay or deny certification if their preferred candidate loses.
Several Republicans on county election boards in Georgia have refused to certify recent elections, including during this year’s primaries and last year’s local elections. In each case, they were overridden by their board’s majorities.
Republican supporters of the rule said county election boards shouldn’t just “rubber stamp” election results without knowing they are accurate.
“We’re not asking the board to do a full election audit or a forensic audit,” Republican State Election Board member Janice Johnston said. “We’re just asking for a reasonable inquiry.”
Johnston and fellow Republicans Rick Jeffares and Janelle King backed the rule in a 3-2 vote. Opposing the rule were Sara Tindall Ghazall, the board’s lone Democrat, and Chairman John Fervier, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.
Fervier said he opposed the rule because it lacked clear standards for a “reasonable inquiry.”
“I’m sympathetic to boards being able to look at documents prior to certifying,” he said. “I also believe there should be some guardrails around that. There don’t appear to be any guardrails around that process.”
State Election Board orders reinvestigation of Fulton’s 2020 recount
The Georgia Election Board voted 3-2 this past week to reinvestigate Fulton County’s handling of the 2020 presidential recount, reviving an inquiry into allegations of double-counted ballots months before this year’s election.
Under the vote, the board is asking Attorney General Chris Carr to conduct an investigation and report his progress in 30 days.
The board previously voted to issue a reprimand against Fulton and require election monitors in May, but the board’s new majority of members who have questioned the conduct of the 2020 presidential election has sought to renew the case because of evidence suggesting that over 3,000 ballots may have been counted twice during the recount. Prior investigations have blamed disorganization and human errors.
Claims of widespread fraud have never been proved despite numerous investigations and court cases, and if votes were double-counted, they still wouldn’t have changed the outcome of the race in Georgia that Joe Biden won by less than 12,000 votes.
In fact, Biden — who carried Fulton with 73% of the vote — received a smaller share of the ballots in question at 56%. Donald Trump gained a net of 939 votes in Fulton through the recount.
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Trump campaign and ally boost ad spending in Georgia after Harris enters race
In the two weeks since Vice President Kamala Harris entered the race for president, former President Donald Trump’s campaign and an allied super PAC boosted their advertising spending in Georgia by almost four times what they had already spent.
Since July 21, when President Joe Biden halted his reelection bid and endorsed Harris, the Trump campaign and MAGA Inc. have spent more than $11.5 million on television ad buys at the major networks in the state to air in the months leading up to the election. Up until that point, their combined spending for the year totaled $2.9 million.
Even with Trump’s ad-buying blitz, Democrats have spent more on presidential campaign ads in Georgia than Republicans, booking a total of $29.4 million for ads to support Biden or Harris. Republicans have ordered $14.4 million in ads.
Republican strategist Brian Robinson said the spending totals demonstrate that “both campaigns see (the state) as winnable.”
Trump’s campaign and MAGA Inc. have bought almost 13,000 spots for ads since Harris launched her campaign, more than twice as many as they bought while Biden was running. These ads will air over the next few months.
On the Democratic side, more than 22,000 spots for ads were purchased before Harris launched her campaign, and about 3,800 have been bought since. Roughly 13,000 of these ads aired for Biden before Harris’ campaign began.
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
Credit: Natrice Miller/AJC
GOP groups plan $1 million effort to persuade minority voters
Two Republican groups plan to spend roughly $1 million to try to persuade voters of color, women and new voters to back GOP candidates in state legislative districts this November.
Georgia’s Future, an outside group tied to state House Speaker Jon Burns, said it will spend roughly $750,000 on the campaign. The House Republican Caucus plans to devote an additional $250,000 to identifying and engaging minority voters in competitive districts.
The GOP groups plan to highlight income tax cuts, teacher pay raises, criminal justice initiatives and a mental health overhaul as part of the effort.
The organizations didn’t specify which districts will be targeted. But Gov. Brian Kemp and national Democrats have already identified a handful of state legislative races that could be up for grabs.
They include districts held by Democratic state Reps. Jasmine Clark of Lilburn and Farooq Mughal of Dacula, as well as Republican state Reps. Scott Hilton of Peachtree Corners, Matt Reeves of Duluth and Deborah Silcox of Sandy Springs.
Credit: Nell Carroll
Credit: Nell Carroll
Kemp says he’s still focused on overhaul of litigation rules
Gov. Brian Kemp used a Georgia Chamber gathering this past week to announce he still plans to pursue an overhaul of the state’s litigation rules in the coming year.
As part of his push, Kemp said he plans to hold a listening tour and three roundtables in pursuit of what conservatives call a “tort reform” rewrite that has long evaded passage in the General Assembly.
The issue stands between two major groups on Georgia’s political scene.
Supporting an overhaul are doctors and hospitals that say stricter limits on litigation would help lure more physicians to Georgia, as well as business lobbies that promise speedier out-of-court settlements and caps on jury awards will help lower insurance premiums and cut legal costs. Many of the same arguments were made when lawmakers passed litigation law changes in the early 2000s.
In opposition are trial lawyers and patient advocacy groups that frame such legislation as a giveaway to powerful corporations that could cost Georgians their legal rights.
Kemp approached the idea of an overhaul last year, but at the beginning of this year’s legislative session he said it would be a multiyear effort. He said he needed more time to gather industry data to prepare a campaign for a broader overhaul in 2025.
Some who took part in discussions at the time said it was doubtful whether there were enough votes to push such legislation through the General Assembly.
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Panel prepares dive into transgender students and school sports
A new legislative committee is set to begin working on whether transgender students can compete in school sports.
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones named six Republicans and two Democrats to serve on the Senate Special Committee on the Protection of Women’s Sports to investigate how administrators promote “the protection of women’s sports.” GOP state Sen. Greg Dolezal of Cumming will be its chair.
Critics say the panel is a political ploy. The Georgia High School Association already requires athletes to compete on teams based on their gender assigned at birth, essentially banning transgender athletes from participating.
The panel will hold its first hearing Aug. 27.
Credit: Jason Getz
Credit: Jason Getz
Trump makes plea for fair treatment for Young Thug
The saying goes that “the enemy of my enemy is my friend.” If so, former President Donald Trump and Young Thug appear headed to becoming besties.
Trump made the first overture this past week, expressing empathy for the rapper and accused gang leader during an interview with streamer Adin Ross.
“I’ve heard about him, and I heard he’s being treated very unfairly by her,” Trump said.
“Her” is Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis.
That’s where Trump and Young Thug, who’s real name is Jeffery Williams, have something in common: They are both facing racketeering charges that Willis brought against them.
The charges against Trump involve allegations of election interference concerning efforts by him and numerous allies to overturn the 2020 presidential election in Georgia. He has denied wrongdoing.
Williams is accused of being the co-founder and leader of Young Slime Life, which Fulton prosecutors describe as a criminal street gang based in south Atlanta that is responsible for drug deals, robberies and a spate of shootings that left at least three people dead.
The rapper’s attorneys say Young Slime Life, better known to some as YSL, is simply the name of the star’s record label.
“He’s got to be treated fairly,” Trump told Ross.
Political expedience
- Ossoff touts new prison law: U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff this past week promoted his Federal Prison Oversight Act that President Joe Biden recently signed into law. The law requires regular unannounced inspections of all federal prisons to ensure adequate inmate care and welfare. It also creates an anonymous tip line at the U.S. Department of Justice for people to report dangerous prison conditions and abuses. The legislation followed multiple congressional investigations Ossoff led that found widespread civil and human rights abuses in federal, state and local facilities, including in Atlanta. A 2022 investigative report by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, titled “Out of Control,” brought many of the issues to light.
- Carter wants to vote: Oct. 1 will mark former President Jimmy Carter’s 100th birthday. He’s set a goal beyond that: He recently told his son Chip that he wants to cast a ballot for Kamala Harris in this year’s presidential election. The former president, who entered hospice care in February 2023, when his physicians indicated he might have only days to live, could cast his ballot as early Oct. 15, when advanced voting begins in Georgia.
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