The Georgia State Election Board made national headlines after implementing several controversial new rules ahead of the 2024 Election.
The five-member (three Republicans, two Democrats) election board implemented several new rules which allows local counties to hold off on the certification of votes if there is a “reasonable inquiry” into election results. The rules also requires local board to reconcile any discrepancies between the number of ballots and voters who check in. The local boards are also authorized to come up with a way to figure out which votes count and which votes do not. As a result, some counties could disenfranchise some voters and chaos could ensue ahead of Georgia’s deadline to certify all votes.
The three Republicans (Janelle King, Rick Jeffares, and Dr. Janice Johnston) on the Georgia State Election Board have been praised by Donald Trump.
Today, several Georgia lawmakers and Civil Rights leaders will urge Gov. Brian Kemp to take action against King, Jeffares, and Johnston. Their actions have been deemed illegal and could face lawsuits in the upcoming days.
Following the Democrats sweeping victories in the 2020 election, Georgia Republicans passed bill SB 202. The bill placed limits on absentee voting and the placement of absentee ballot drop boxes. It also implemented new ID requirements for mail-in voting, shortened the deadline to request absentee ballots and enforced criminal penalties for passing out refreshments to voters standing in line.
In turn, civil rights leaders and the U.S. Department of Justice said the bill made it harder for Black voters.
SB 202 was implemented after Donald Trump and his supporters made false claims that Georgia’s 2020 election was marred by widespread fraud, illegal ballot stuffing, and rigged electronic voting machines.
In 2020, Trump received 137,240 votes in Fulton County, while Biden received 381,144. Trump and his lawyers requested a recount and the final results led to the former president gaining seven additional votes.
When Trump was proven to be the loser, he allegedly attempted to steal the election.
Trump and 18 co-defendants are currently facing RICO charges for allegedly attempting to defraud voters in Fulton County during the 2020 election.
The DOJ argued that Georgia’s deadline for absentee ballot applications is in violation under the Voting Rights Act. In its brief, the Justice Department writes that “Section 202’s provisions are privately enforceable” and requests that the court “reject Defendants’ bare-bones assertion that the existence of a public remedy in Section 202 forecloses a private remedy.”
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