Georgia Election Board Faces Pressure From Both Sides

The Georgia State Election Board, which has been accused of voter suppression, is currently facing heat from both Democrats and Republicans.
In July three Republican members of the board voted in new rules that some fear will favor Donald Trump in the upcoming November election.
The new rules essentially require officials to investigate vote tallies before certifying them, asking them to carry out a “reasonable inquiry” into their accuracy and to look at “election-related documentation created during the conduct of elections.”
On Monday, it came out that Republican Governor Brian Kemp is looking into the possibility of removing the three election board members who voted in the change.
Kemp said he has asked the state’s attorney general for “guidance” on whether he has the power to remove members of the board.
The governor took this step in response to letters reportedly from voting rights groups, Democrats and even Republicans, which said the new rules may amount to ethics violations.
Also on Monday, several election officials and Democrats filed a lawsuit against the election board with Fulton County Superior Court before a state judge in Atlanta.
The lawsuit says: “According to their drafters, these rules rest on the assumption that certification of election results by a county board is discretionary and subject to free-ranging inquiry that may delay certification or foreclose it entirely. But that is not the law in Georgia.”
One of the election board members who voted the changes in, Janelle King, previously told USA Today: “In 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.”
State Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon also defended the new rules, saying: “These common-sense changes will benefit all Georgians, regardless of political affiliation as they are all designed to increase transparency and public confidence regarding our election.”
Newsweek has contacted the Georgia State Election Board out of office hours for further comment.
Trump himself has praised the trio (King, Dr. Janice Johnston and Rick Jeffares) responsible for getting the rules passed by name at a campaign rally in Atlanta on August 3, calling them “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory.”
The former U.S. president became the first Republican to lose the Georgian senate in 2020, after President Joe Biden flipped it by 11,779 votes, or 0.24 percent of the 5 million ballots cast.
The result was confirmed by a hand count but some Republicans have refused to verify certain elections since over claims about election irregularities.
A year ago, a Georgia grand jury accused Trump and others of illegally trying to overturn the 2020 presidential election in the state. Trump denies all charges against him and repeatedly said the case is part of a political witch hunt against him.
Newsweek has contacted Trump’s team via email outside of office hours for comment.