Democrats sue Georgia state election board over new rules

Democrats filed a lawsuit on Monday arguing that two regulations issued by the Georgia State Elections Commission are illegal and could cause “chaos” in the certification of the state's election results this year.

Meanwhile, Georgia's Republican governor, Brian Kemp, has asked the state attorney general whether he has the authority to remove the three Republican members who agreed to the rules from office for possible ethics violations.

The two provisions in question were approved by a 3-2 vote earlier this month. They require election officials to conduct a “reasonable investigation” before certifying election results and allow individual county committee members to “examine all election-related materials created during the conduct of the election.”

All three members who supported the new rules have expressed doubts about Joe Biden's victory over Donald Trump in the 2020 presidential election. At a rally earlier this month, Trump praised all three – Janice Johnston, Rick Jaffares and Janelle King – by name, calling them “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory.”

After the 2020 election, Trump, who continues to make unfounded claims of voter fraud, pressured Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find the 11,780 votes” needed to sway the election in his favor. The former president and Republican candidate faces 13 criminal charges for his efforts to overturn the election in Georgia. Four former Trump supporters have pleaded guilty in the case. Trump has pleaded not guilty.

In the lawsuit filed in state court, the Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Party of Georgia and Democratic members of several county election boards claim the rules are inconsistent with state law and that the state election board exceeded its authority when it adopted them. The plaintiffs accuse the board of trying to “upend the necessary process for certifying election results” by opening the door to delays.

“Through the legislation, SEB has sought to transform the simple and mandatory act of certification – that is, confirming that votes cast were correctly counted – into a blanket license for individual board members to search for alleged election irregularities of any kind, potentially delaying certification and replacing long-standing (and court-supervised) anti-fraud processes,” the lawsuit states.

Democrats argue that under Georgia law, “election officials have a duty to certify results by 5 p.m. six days after Election Day. Allegations of voter fraud or election fraud are then resolved by the courts in properly filed appeals, not by county committees in the counting process.”

Democrats want the court to declare that the election results must be certified by November 12, unless a court order prohibits it.

“For months, MAGA Republicans in Georgia and across the country have been trying to lay the groundwork to challenge the election results if they lose again in November,” Quentin Fulks, Kamala Harris' deputy campaign manager, said in a statement. “But Democrats are prepared, and we will stop them. Certification of an election is not a choice, it is the law. A few unelected extremists cannot simply decide not to count your vote.”

King, one of the three Republican board members, stressed in several interviews earlier this month that she was “not working on behalf of anyone,” that regulations did not allow county officials to delay certification and that the measures were intended to strengthen the certification process.

Meanwhile, Democratic lawmakers are urging Kemp to investigate the three Republican board members. Democratic Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes filed a complaint with Kemp on Aug. 19 accusing the three Republicans of violating the state's ethics code and open meetings law by adopting rules that interfere with free and fair elections, by colluding with the Georgia Republican Party and by holding a meeting without public notice on July 12.

“These violations are not just legal technicalities; they strike at the heart of our democracy and Georgians' trust in our electoral system,” Islam Parkes said at a press conference on Monday.

Kemp said in a statement Monday that he had received letters from Islam Parkes and others and “has asked the Attorney General for advice on how to apply the law to the letters. We will respond upon receipt of that advice and further evaluation of the letters.”

In an interview with radio station WABE broadcast on Monday, King said she was “100 percent” convinced that the board had not broken any laws.

She added that she would not resign even if Attorney General Chris Carr concluded that the board had violated the law.

“I respect his opinion, but his opinion will not determine whether I resign from this body,” said King, the former deputy director of the Georgia Republican Party. “There are several lawyers who have provided multiple opinions on both sides of the argument.”