A group of nine current and former Republican state legislators backed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to block new certification rules adopted by the State Election Board on grounds that the panel’s pro-Donald Trump majority exceeded its authority.
The group, led by former Georgia Senate GOP leader Eric Johnson, is just the latest of a growing number of conservatives who are pushing back against the board’s tilt toward voting policies favored by Republican allies of the former president.
While Democrats and voting rights groups express concerns in litigation that the late certification changes create an opening for rogue election board members to reject the results, the Republicans are pressing a different strategy spelled out in the 26-page amicus brief.
It argued the board has usurped its authority “by adopting unconstitutional rules that will bog down the administration of future elections — including the presidential election to occur in one month’s time — with vague and cumbersome process.”
And it noted the right-wing trio behind the changes approved them despite receiving a “clear, written warning” from Republican Attorney General Chris Carr’s office that the new rules could violate state law.
“These are not obscure or nuanced constitutional issues to be debated in law school hallways. The stakes are real,” states the filing, which warned the changes violate the separation of powers doctrine rooted in the Georgia Constitution since 1777.
The group seconded a challenge filed weeks ago by former Republican state Rep. Scot Turner that took aim at rules critics say could be abused to dispute the results of the presidential election.
The case is scheduled to go to court Wednesday, with a ruling expected before the election.
Credit: John Spink/AJC
Credit: John Spink/AJC
One rule requires an undefined “reasonable inquiry” before county election boards certify results, which opponents fear could give partisan board members more discretion to reject the outcome. Another rule calls for local election board members to review troves of documents before certifying results.
Supporters of the changes say they’ll help ensure the accuracy of the vote count, and they won’t interfere with the state law that requires county election boards to certify election results one week after Election Day. They say local election boards shouldn’t “rubber stamp” results without first verifying them.
“We’re not asking the board to do a full election audit or a forensic audit,” said Janice Johnston, one of the three GOP-appointed election board members recently feted by Trump at an Atlanta rally. “We’re just asking for a reasonable inquiry.”
The GOP-led challenge, organized by the conservative RightCount group, echoes others pressed by Republicans at the federal level that target administrative rule making by officials they say are overstepping their authority.
Former Republican state Rep. Mike Dudgeon, who signed onto the amicus brief, was the policy director of the lieutenant governor’s office in 2021 when Republicans muscled through a controversial election rewrite that he said remains “strong and leads to secure elections.”
“That State Election Board should not, and does not have the authority to, change it,” Dudgeon said.
Other Republican leaders have also criticized the late drive to overhaul election policies, widening a rift between the pro-Trump MAGA wing of the party and more traditional Republicans.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has repeatedly warned a series of proposed rules amounted to dangerous eleventh-hour changes orchestrated by unelected bureaucrats.
Former Gov. Nathan Deal, a two-term Republican, agreed with another former governor, Democrat Roy Barnes, at an Atlanta Press Club event last month when he said proposed rule changes this close to an election are “destroying confidence” in the system.
And RightCount recently launched a series of ads, including one featuring everyday Georgians expressing their faith in the state’s voting system.
“By taking this stand,” said Johnson, the group’s co-chair, “we are protecting the constitutional balance of power and ensuring that the votes cast by Georgia citizens are counted and certified in accordance with the law, free from manipulation and partisan influence.”
