Georgia State Election Commission Chairman John Fervier listens during a meeting at the Capitol on Tuesday, Aug. 6, 2024, in Atlanta.
Matthew Pearson/AP/WABE
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Matthew Pearson/AP/WABE
ATLANTA — The Georgia Election Commission voted Tuesday to require county election officials to conduct a “reasonable investigation” before certifying election results to the state, signaling that the fight over certification of election results could intensify this November in a key battleground state in the South.
Supporters say the measure is necessary because county election board members must declare under oath that the results are accurate and need to be able to fully ensure the totals are correct before doing so.
“Why wouldn’t people want to assume there’s some oversight?” asked Janice Johnston, a member of the state Board of Elections appointed by the state Republican Party.
But opponents of the rule say it’s an invitation to create post-election chaos and that the board is flouting state law that says county officials “shall certify” the results, as well as more than a century of court precedent that holds county officials have little No room issues whatsoever.
“The proposed rule changes would empower local election officials to stop counting votes and slow them down, or even outright refuse certification if they believe there are any irregularities, essentially making the certification of election results discretionary,” House Minority Whip Sam said. “The key word here is discretion. This would essentially give partisan county election boards personal control over Georgia’s election results, and they could insist on certifying the election if they disagree with the results.”
The rule will take effect in 20 days but may be challenged in court.
It’s yet another debate over the longstanding administrative afterthoughts and state and local commissions that certify the results. With 90 days left in the presidential campaign, more battles are likely in close battleground states.
Former President Donald Trump and his allies sought to block certification to prevent the election results from becoming final after the failure. In 2020, when a Michigan canvassing board had to certify the vote totals before state officials could declare a winner, two Republicans briefly hesitated to sign, but one relented and became the deciding vote. Trump welcomed the delay as part of his efforts to overturn the defeat that culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.
During the 2022 midterm elections, some conservative rural counties sought to uphold state election results, citing the same debunked claims of voter fraud that Trump had made.
In Georgia, state officials must order rural coffee counties to certify in 2020. America First Policy Institute refused to certify the primary results after filing a lawsuit. The rules adopted by the commission Tuesday were proposed by Fulton County Commission member Michael Heekin, another Republican appointee.
Higgin on Tuesday pushed back against suggestions that “reasonable” is a subjective term, saying it has an established legal meaning.
“This is to show that what we are doing is important and cannot be taken lightly,” Higgin told the state committee.
But Democrats and voting rights groups worry that Republicans on the board are laying the groundwork for Trump to challenge Kamala Harris’ victory in Georgia.
“What I’m saying is that it’s beyond the commission’s authority to adopt rules that are inconsistent with the statute and more than 100 years of Georgia Supreme Court precedent,” said Nikhel Sus, an attorney with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, which focuses on government ethics. and accountability study groups.
Tuesday’s action came after three Trump-aligned Republican parties took control of the five-member oversight committee. It has no direct role in determining election results but sets rules to ensure elections run smoothly and hears complaints about irregularities.
Trump himself praised the members at a rally in Atlanta on Saturday, calling the three “all warriors who fight for honesty, transparency and victory,” but criticized Democrats on the board and Gov. Brian Kan. The non-partisan chairman appointed by President Trump called them “matadors.” Trump singled out Johnston, a retired ob-gyn and frequent critic of elections in heavily Democratic Fulton County, who sat in the second row at Saturday’s rally and stood up to thank him. Trump’s praise.
“Is my courage contagious?” Trump said after Johnston stood. “Well, your courage is contagious too.”
Critics of the board’s political entanglement with Trump and Republicans argue that this is not only unseemly but may also violate the board’s own code of conduct, which states that board members “should be honest, fair, and avoid any conflict and/or inappropriate conduct.”
The appointment of board member Janelle King, who has denied being unduly influenced by her party, solidifies control of the Trump-aligned faction. State Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon recently emailed proposed rules and talking points to a third member of the faction, former state Sen. Rick Jeffares.
“I don’t make decisions based on which party wants me to do something,” Kim told reporters. “I look at the facts, I look at the evidence, I look at the situation at hand and see if this is a good rule.”
