Three right-wing Republicans behind a series of rules changes praised by former President Donald Trump face intensifying political pressure as the State Election Board considers new rules for ballot-counting and election certification at its Monday meeting.
Georgia House Democrats prepared an urgent appeal Monday to House Speaker Jon Burns to remove his appointee to the board. Fulton County’s former elections board chief filed an ethics complaint against the trio that alleges a series of violations.
And Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican, blasted pending proposals up for debate by the five-member board as a last-minute “effort to impose new rulemaking” that could cause chaos.
Meanwhile, the trio was dealt a blow on Monday when Attorney General Chris Carr issued a formal opinion finding that the board can’t order him to reopen an investigation into Fulton County’s 2020 recount because state law doesn’t empower the board to do so.
The increasing scrutiny comes weeks after Trump lauded the trio at his Atlanta rally, calling them “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory” to deafening applause from thousands of supporters.
The three board members — Janelle King, Rick Jeffares and Janice Johnston — comprise a majority bloc that has plowed ahead with election rules changes less than two months before early voting begins.
Jeffares, meanwhile, has attracted even more attention after disclosing last week that he has floated himself for an environmental job in a second Trump administration, though he told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution he never formally asked for the job.
Cathy Woolard, the former chair of Fulton’s elections board, cited Jeffares in an ethics complaint that alleged the three “have created, at minimum, the appearance that their actions are intended to advance their own political preference.”
“Taken together,” she wrote to Gov. Brian Kemp, “these actions pose a serious risk of creating confusion about the rules governing the rapidly approaching election and undermining voter confidence in the integrity of Georgia’s elections.”
And more than a dozen House Democrats pressed Burns in a letter to remove King, a media personality the speaker appointed earlier this year who replaced a mainstream Republican who often opposed sweeping new rules changes.
“These conflicts of interest and ethical lapses fly in the face of the work we’ve been doing in the Legislature over the last four years to regain the public’s trust,” wrote the Democrats, including Minority Whip Sam Park.
“Georgians simply want to have faith that elections are conducted fairly and will reflect the will of the people. Unfortunately, these three SEB members have undermined the people’s faith.”
The House speaker’s office said it hadn’t yet received the Democrats’ letter as of Monday morning.
‘Make you blush’
The three election board members have argued they aren’t playing politics. King said she’s supporting rules that will increase “election integrity” regardless of Trump’s praise.
“We all know that the president says what he wants to say, right?” King said earlier this month.
“I don’t make decisions based on which side of the aisle wants me to do something. I look at the facts, I look at the evidence, I look at what’s in front of me, and I see if this is a good rule.”
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Credit: Arvin Temkar/AJC
Jeffares called the controversy over whether he could take a job in the Trump administration a “rumor” based on a conversation he had with Republican congressional candidate Brian Jack, a former Trump aide.
“I didn’t talk to anyone in the Trump administration. It’s been a hardship on us ever since Trump mentioned us at the rally,” Jeffares said in an interview. “It’s all just to make us look like criminals. I have emails and voicemail messages that would make you blush.”
The three have also defended other recent votes, including approving a requirement for an undefined “reasonable inquiry” before certifying elections, which critics warned could be used as a pretext for local elections officials to reject results if Trump loses.
An AJC review showed at least 19 county election board members in Georgia have opposed certifying elections since the 2020 election, which Trump falsely claimed was “stolen.”
The board could go further by passing a slate of new rules Monday, including one that would require three poll workers to count ballots on election night to make sure they match the number of ballots recorded by voting machines.
Another proposal up for debate would impose a new requirement for county election boards to review information such as lists of voters by ballot type and comparisons of ballots to voter check-ins.
Raffensperger, the state’s top elections official, warned the changes could undermine voter confidence and burden election workers. Without naming names, he also blasted the influence of “unelected bureaucrats who have never run an election.”
“Georgia voters reject this 11th hour chaos,” he said, “and so should the unelected members of the State Election Board.”
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
Credit: Miguel Martinez/AJC
