Officials sue Georgia election board over 2 new rules
By: Aysha Bagchi
USA today
..... The Georgia State Election Board was sued Monday [08/26/2024] by several election officials and Democrats over recent rules passed by thee board members approved by former President Donald Trump.
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The plaintiffs want to make sure the new rules don't prevent the November [2024] election results from being certified on time.
..... The two rules at issue require election officials to conduct a "reasonable inquiry" into the accuracy of results before certifying them, and to allow individual members of county election boards to look at :election related documentation cerated during the conduct of elections."
..... The Georgia county election officials and Democrat who are suing acknowledge that the rules, on their face, appear to respect certification deadlines because they only allow a "resonance inquiry" or "examinations" that wouldn't push certification past the legal deadline.
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However, the rules could still delay certification by giving officials license to hunt for nay kind of election irregularity, according to the lawsuit.
..... "At minimum, these novel requirements introduce substantial uncertainty in the post-election process and - if interpreted as their drafters have suggested - invite chaos by establishing new processes at odds with existing statutory duties," the plaintiffs said.
..... The five members of the Georgia State Election board didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. in comments provided earlier, member Janelle King, who is one of the three to back the new rules, told USA Today no approved rules would allow county officials to violate state law by delaying certification.
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"If fact it works in the reverse. ensuring that every county election board member has access to all election related documentation actually strengthens the certification process," said King, how is the former deputy state director for the Georgia Republican Party.
..... King told the local outlet that she joined the board "to do the right thing" and she doesn't have any partisan allegiance.
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"Before I agree to do anything, I ask all the right questions, I talk to attorneys. I make suer that I'm walking within the steps of the law," she said.
..... In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs noted that many Georgia county election officials have objected to certifying elections since 2020, indulgenced one county official as recently as March of this year. [2024]
..... They are asking the Fulton County Superior court "to prevent chaos in November" [2024] by making clear - though what's known as a "declaratory judgment" - that the state deadlines for certifying the results are mandatory, and that is not changed by the new rules.
..... Trump praised King and the other two members who ultimately backed the rules - Dr. Janice Johnson and Rick Jaffares - by name at a campaign rally August 3, [2024] scribbling them as "pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory."
..... Also on Monday, [08/26/2024] Democratic lawmakers from Georgia called for the three members praised by Trump to resign at news conference, local Atlanta news channel Fox 5 reported.