With only a few months to go until the 2024 presidential election, the battleground venue of Georgia will see a new policy go into effect in a little more than two weeks thanks to the Georgia State Election Board’s passage of a rule granting counties the power to demand a so-called “reasonable inquiry” before certifying election results.
When the policy was approved in a 3-2 vote by the election board on Tuesday, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported that a group of mostly Republican voters in attendance at the public meeting cheered. Notably, the three Republicans on the election board had received accolades from former President Donald Trump only days earlier when he name-dropped them at a campaign rally at Georgia State University.
“They’re on fire. They’re doing a great job, three members: Janice Johnston, Rick Jeffares and Janelle King,” the 34-count convicted felon and nominee for the 2024 GOP presidential ticket said, according to the newspaper. “Three people are all pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory.”
The new rule will officially take effect in 20 days but it can be challenged in court.
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The votes against the policy came from the body’s sole Democrat, Sara Tindall Ghazal, and John Fervier, a Republican who crossed the aisle to join her. Notably, he was only recently appointed to the Georgia State Election Board by Gov. Brian Kemp, also a Republican.
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Today, Georgia Democrats, like the state’s House Minority Whip Sam Park, argue the policy is “egregious” and fear it will trigger a wave of litigation not dissimilar from what unfolded in the state in 2020 when pro-Trump elector and attorney Lin Wood sued to block the certification results.
At a press conference after the vote, Park stressed that the new policy would give local election officials the ability to slow down or flat out refuse results merely by stating that they think there is a discrepancy but not offering much more than that.
This means election board officials will now perform their duties as if they are discretionary, not mandatory, he said.
And this, the legislator underlined, conflicts with state law.
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