A lawsuit supported by Democrat Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign challenged new Georgia election certification rules Monday, warning that they will “invite chaos” if the results are disputed.
The case takes aim at rules approved by the State Election Board’s Republican majority that require an undefined “reasonable inquiry” and add requirements before county election boards finalize results one week after Election Day.
The 44-page suit by the Democratic Party says the rules could lead to disputes over the vote count and potentially delay certification. At least 19 county election board members have refused to certify various elections since 2020, according to a statewide survey by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.
“Certifying an election is not a choice, it’s the law,” said Quentin Fulks, principal deputy campaign manager for the Harris-Walz campaign. “A few unelected extremists can’t just decide not to count your vote.”
The lawsuit escalates the fight over Georgia’s election rules, which were passed by three right-wing members of the State Election Board this month after they were praised by Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump as “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory” during an Atlanta rally.
Republican county election board members who have refused to approve recent elections said they should be able to withhold their votes — though state law requires boards to certify results as part of their jobs. Only after certification can candidates contest the outcome in court.
Even when the results weren’t in doubt, Republican board members have opposed certifying recent elections because they first wanted to review more documents or they objected to discrepancies over a handful of ballots that wouldn’t have changed the outcome.
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
Credit: Seeger Gray / AJC
State Election Board member Janelle King said the certification rules were needed to create a more trustworthy verification process.
“I’m going to continue to do what’s right and let the Democrats play the political games,” said King, a Republican appointed to the board in May. “There’s nothing we’re doing that will impact certification. If they have the proper information needed to certify, you won’t see them even attempt to delay certification.”
Under the new rules, county election board members are allowed to examine all election-related documents and certify elections only after discrepancies are investigated. If errors are discovered, election boards must determine a method to compute votes. The rule also calls for county election boards to hold a meeting to verify results on the Friday after Election Day, before the deadline for the return of overseas and military ballots.
In addition, the board required county election boards to make a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying elections, without stating what’s reasonable or what the inquiry would involve.
“Make no mistake: What is unfolding in Georgia is nothing less than a concerted effort to subvert democracy and move us backward,” said Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath during a press conference at the state Capitol on Monday. “With passing this new rule, they are creating barriers to counting votes and certifying the elections so Donald Trump can once again attempt to throw our country into chaos.”
After the 2020 election, Trump claimed that the presidency was stolen from him in Georgia when he lost by fewer than 12,000 votes, but widespread fraud has never been proved. State election investigations have dismissed allegations of illegal ballots delivered to drop boxes, invalid voter signatures and fraud during vote-counting at State Farm Arena.
Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC
Credit: Ziyu Julian Zhu/AJC
Conservative supporters of the election rules said they’ll help prevent a repeat of the 2020 election by ensuring that votes are counted accurately before election boards certify the results on Nov. 12. Election officials said three vote counts showed the results were correct in 2020.
“The improvements that have been made are nonpartisan, and they’re designed to improve the security of the 2024 election,” said Garland Favorito, co-founder of the group VoterGA who attended Monday’s the Capitol press conference. “I consider this to be political theater designed to psychologically program their base.”
An adviser to Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, Cody Hall, said the State Election Board should be careful about changing procedures so close to the November election.
“The governor wants to keep the main thing the main thing — that’s winning the election in Georgia. And you do not win the election in Georgia by talking about election procedures,” Hall said on the AJC’s Politically Georgia radio show Monday.
Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has criticized the State Election Board as “a mess.”
The lawsuit asks a Fulton County superior court judge to declare that election certification is a mandatory duty, that certification can’t be delayed, and to throw out State Election Board rules that conflict with Georgia certification laws.
“Our State Election Board exists to protect the right to vote of all Georgians, not to favor any single candidate in any election,” said U.S. Rep. Nikema Williams, chairwoman for the Democratic Party of Georgia. “We’re fighting back, and we will beat them in court like we will beat them at the ballot box this fall.”
Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon said the rule changes are “common sense rules that ensure election integrity.”
“In no way do these rule changes interfere with anyone’s right to vote or cause undue burdens on election workers, but these steps will ensure transparency, accountability, accurate reporting and reconciliation,” McKoon said.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit against the State Election Board include the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Party of Georgia and Democrats on county election boards.
