Far Right Bent on Disrupting Election Process

On Monday, the three far-right members of Georgia’s State Election Board (SEB) pushed through new rules. The first  creates additional steps before results can be certified, including a requirement to verify vote counts prior to the deadline for overseas and military ballots.” The second increases requirements for drop boxes and absentee ballots, imposing rules beyond what is required by statute. 

In effect, if a voter chooses to submit an absentee ballot in a drop box, it is accepted, but if they choose to hand it to an election worker in person, they will have to provide an additional ID or the ballot is classified as “provisional” which requires further checks. This comes on the heels of the SEB’s recent rule change that allows boards to require “reasonable information” before certifying, without any definition of the term or its timing. 

Given Georgia’s pivotal swing state status, SEB efforts to sow doubt in the election process is no surprise, as reported in a recent Kicker. Perhaps surprising is that the sessions have drawn large audiences (both in person and online) and national news coverage.
 
Even many state Republicans disapprove of the SEB’s actions and of the former president calling the three members out by name at a recent rally, put even greater, unwelcome, scrutiny on Georgia. In response to the SEB’s attempts to re-litigate the 2020 Fulton County vote, Attorney General Chris Carr has said he refuses to use his office to do so. Noteworthy is that the former president’s allies are known to be behind seemingly-local efforts to remove voters from rolls and purposely create disruption before the November election. 

Put together, these actions appear designed to create delay and chaos, in the event the former president loses, with the likely ultimate goal of stopping the certification altogether.

On a more hopeful note, the SEB voted against advancing a rule to require the county election boards to use paper ballots–a persistent, baseless far-right demand that inaccurately suggests counting thousands of pieces of paper under tight deadlines is akin to a bank audit. They refuse to acknowledge that the existing forms of reconciliation—done hourly as well as at the end of every voting day-- are accurate. 

On Tuesday, the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials (GAVREO) issued a press release calling on the SEB to stop passing new rules so close to the election. 

What Next: “Can’t We All Get Along?” 
Election deniers frequently suggest that what they are pushing for is simply election security–what everyone of any party should want– that what they are doing is reasonable.  This approach might lull voters who are not paying close attention into agreeing, but our elections have been secure and the processes have worked cleanly and effectively. It is only a small, well-funded group who is trying to disrupt what has worked and they hide their effort under a veneer of “can’t we all just get along.” Disingenuous at best, dishonest at worst.  
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Bad actors hope no one is paying attention. Pay attention. Go to the Forsyth County Board of Elections meetings. Make public comments. Keep track of the SEB meetings–write in your comments or even appear in person.  Don’t let anyone think you’re not paying attention, because your vote matters.