Georgia State Election Board considering last-minute voting rule changes
ATLANTA - Georgia's controversial State Election Board will meet on Friday to vote on 11 different rule changes less than a month before early voting will start in the Peach State.
Friday's agenda includes proposals to require the hand counting of ballots at each polling place and publicly post the names of all registered voters for the Nov. 5 general election.
Any rules adopted at the meeting would take effect 20 days later after overseas and military ballots have started to go out and just as in-person early voting is about to begin.
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ATLANTA, GEORGIA - MARCH 12: A voter holds up her sticker after casting her ballot for the Primary election on March 12, 2024, in Atlanta. (Photo by Megan Varner/ Washington Post)
The Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials, known as GAVREO, said that its members are "gravely concerned" that any additional changes will disrupt poll worker preparation and training that is already underway.
"Any last-minute changes to the rules risk undermining the public’s trust in the electoral process and place undue pressure on the individuals responsible for managing the polls and administering the election," organization president W. Travis Doss Jr. said in the statement. "This could ultimately lead to errors or delays in voting, which is the last thing anyone wants."
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Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has also expressed concern that these changes could lead to chaos on election night, a sentiment echoed by many Democrats.
"Activists seeking to impose last-minute changes in election procedures outside of the legislative process undermine voter confidence and burden election workers," Raffensperger said.
On Monday, the Cobb County Election Board voted unanimously to urge the state board to stop making rule changes so close to the election.
Georgia Election Board rule controversies
In recent months, the State Election Board has received numerous rule proposals, many originating from activists aligned with former President Donald Trump. Trump has continued to assert, without evidence, that widespread voter fraud led to his loss in Georgia’s 2020 presidential election.
Three of the five members of the State Election Board are Republican partisans whom Trump praised by name during a campaign rally last month in Atlanta, calling them "pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory,"
In August, the board voted 3 to 2 on a controversial proposal to allow local election officials to investigate counts before certifying their county's results.
Supporters said the measure is needed because members of county election boards must swear statements that results are accurate and need to be able to adequately assure themselves that the totals are correct before doing so.
But opponents of the rule said it’s an invitation to create post-election chaos and that the board is defying state law that says that county officials "shall certify" results, as well as more than a century of court precedent finding county officials have little wiggle room on the issue.
Following the board's ruling, Georgia Democrats sued to block the rule's adoption, asking a judge to find the rules are invalid because the board is exceeding its legal authority.