Democrats sue to block Georgia rules that they warn will block finalization of election results
ATLANTA– The Georgia Democratic Party filed a lawsuit Monday seeking to block two rules recently adopted by the State Election Board that could be used by county officials to refuse to certify an election, potentially causing delays in the final certification of the state’s results.
The lawsuit, filed in a state judge in Atlanta, alleges that the rules violate a state law that makes certification a mandatory requirement. The lawsuit asks the judge to rule that the rules are invalid because the State Election Board, now dominated by allies of former President Donald Trump, is exceeding its statutory authority.
The board’s actions alarm Democrats and voting rights activists, and come against a backdrop of Georgia’s partisan battle over voting procedures that predates even the 2020 presidential election. It’s a fight in yet another state over what has long been an administrative afterthought, state and local governments certification of results.
The lawsuit argues that the rules create chaos after the election, that the board ignores state law requiring county officials to “certify” the results, and that more than a century of Georgia case law shows that county officials have no wiggle room.
“These rules, according to their drafters, rest on the premise that the certification of election results by a county board is discretionary and subject to open scrutiny that can delay or prevent certification altogether. But that is not the law in Georgia,” says the lawsuit, filed in Fulton County Superior Court.
Trump supporters argue that the rules only reinforce a county election board’s existing duty to thoroughly investigate election results, noting that each board member must take an oath to collect “true and perfect” results.
“These common sense changes will benefit all Georgians, regardless of their political affiliation, and are all designed to increase transparency and public confidence in our elections,” Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon said in a statement defending the rule changes earlier Monday, before the lawsuit was made public.
A trio of Republican partisans Trump-aligned Republican Rep. John F. Kennedy earlier this year took control of the five-member regulatory board, which has no direct role in determining election outcomes but writes rules to ensure the election runs smoothly and hears complaints about violations.
Trump praised these members by name during a meeting on August 3 meeting in Atlanta say the three are “all pit bulls fighting for fairness, transparency and victory,” but criticize the Democrat on the board and the nonpartisan chairman appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp, saying they are “not that good.”
That, plus McKoon’s praise for taking over the board and later emailing the proposed rules to board members, has led Democrats to argue that a once-sleepy board is now a direct tool of Trump.
“The Georgia State Board of Elections is becoming an equal accomplice in this attempt to suppress our votes,” Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath charged Monday at a news conference at the Georgia Capitol. “By passing this new rule, they are creating barriers to counting votes and certifying the election so that Donald Trump can once again attempt to throw our country into chaos.”
A Democratic state senator and the former chairman of the Fulton County Board of Elections have both sent letters demanding that Kemp remove the three Trump-allied members for violating state ethics laws. Kemp on Monday asked Republican Attorney General Chris Carr to determine whether Kemp has legal jurisdiction to consider the demands.
The Democratic lawsuit specifically cites language added by a rule requiring county election officials to conduct a “reasonable investigation” before certifying results. It also takes aim at a second rule that allows county election officials to “examine all election-related documentation created in the conduct of an election.”
Alleged fraud or misconduct should be handled by the courts, not by county officials who calculate the results, the suit argues, citing more than a century of Georgia court rulings.
While the new rules could be interpreted as consistent with Georgia law, allowing only review or investigation without delaying certification, “that is not what the drafters of those rules intended,” the lawsuit says, citing their testimony before the board.
The first rule does not define “reasonable investigation” and the second “has no basis in election law or case law,” the lawsuit argues.
It’s unclear whether counties could successfully refuse to certify. They would face lawsuits asking judges to order county governments to carry out their statutory duties. And it’s unlikely that Fulton County or any of the state’s five other most populous counties, all solidly Democratic, would refuse to certify. Instead, refusals to certify would likely come from smaller, more Republican counties.
In Georgia, state officials were required to require rural Coffee County to certify in 2020. In May, Julie Adams, the Republican-appointed election board member for Fulton County, refused to certify primary results after filing a lawsuit backed by the Trump-affiliated America First Policy Institute, arguing that county election board members have the authority to reject certification.
The lawsuit was filed by members of the election board from metro Atlanta counties, most of whom are elected by the local Democratic Party, as well as by Democratic-supporting voters, two Democratic state legislators running for re-election, and the state and federal Democratic parties.