Several Democratic Georgia lawmakers, religious and civil rights leaders implored Gov. Brian Kemp Monday to remove three Donald Trump loyalist State Election Board members accused of holding an illegal meeting and enacting illegal election rules over the last several weeks.
The fallout from a July Georgia State Election Board meeting continues to play out with the recent filing of a lawsuit, ethics complaint and letter requesting Kemp to remove election board members Janelle King, Janice Johnston and Rick Jeffares, who advanced an election certification rule at a July 12 meeting that has spurred complaints that the right-wing faction violated the state’s Open Meetings Act.
The new rules allow counties to delay certifying an election to take time to investigate irregularities, replacing a procedure that has long been considered ministerial.
The Georgia Democratic Party filed suit Monday to overturn the two election rule certification changes that could leave it up to a court to settle the issue long past certification deadlines set by the state.
Also on Monday Democratic U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath of Marietta, state Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes of Duluth and Rep. Saira Draper of Atlanta were among a number of elected officials, clergy and voting rights leaders who called for the investigation and dismissal of the board members for ethical violations, including conducting an illegal meeting.
They accused the Republican-controlled election board of trying to delay certifying elections as part of an ongoing attempt by Trump and his supporters to lay the groundwork for challenging a loss to Vice President Kamala Harris in the Nov. 5 election. Democratic officials expressed concern that changes in election rules might be used to cause discord or worse.
Islam Parkes filed a formal complaint with Kemp last week, demanding the removal of the three board members for violations of the Code of Ethics and the Georgia Open Meetings Act.
McBath accused the three election officials of advancing certification rules that could be used by Trump to “throw our country into chaos.”
“If we fail to protect our democracy, our sacred democracy, we will risk falling into chaos,” McBath said during Monday’s press conference at the state Capitol.
King, Johnston and Jeffares have passed rules that prior to certification require local election officials to conduct “reasonable inquiries” and give them the power to inspect any election records. King and Jeffares attended the July 12 “emergency” board meeting in person, while Johnston voted virtually.
King maintained on social media Monday that the new election board rules should strengthen the vote certification process and claims otherwise are from partisans interfering with a diligent ballot count.
According to Kemp’s spokesman Garrison Douglas, the governor is seeking advice from Attorney General Chris Carr to determine how to proceed with the ethics complaint filed against the election board members. Douglas said the governor isn’t certain that he has the authority to investigate complaints against the election board.
Josh McKoon, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, attacked “far-left” Democrats on Monday for a press conference he described as insulting and threatening to the three state board members. McKoon accused McBath of making dangerous claims that the three election board members who pushed through the certification rule change are subverting democracy and suppressing voters.
McKoon questioned why there has been such opposition to rules allowing local election boards to review information before certification and provide political parties more opportunities to observe the processing of ballots.
“Words matter. Truth matters. It’s apparent that Democrats are against common sense rules that ensure election integrity in Georgia,” McKoon wrote in an emailed statement to party supporters. “The real question should be WHY they oppose these common sense rule changes.”
In the lawsuit filed Monday against the State Electoral Board, the Democratic Party of Georgia seeks to block the implementation of the new certification rules it argues gives local officials broad power to “hunt” for election irregularities, delay certification, and upend a longstanding practice for confirming election results.
Other plaintiffs in the lawsuit include several election board members from Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, Gwinnett and Forsyth counties.
The lawsuit alleges that the “reasonable inquiry” requirement conflicts with Georgia’s law and asks a judge to mandate that election superintendents certify the results of the Nov. 5 election no later than 5 p.m. Nov. 12.
The new election rules assume that county boards have discretion to certify election results and that this can be delayed or blocked by a free-ranging investigation, the lawsuit states.
Georgia election board’s right-wing faction votes to revisit Fulton’s 2020 presidential election despite warnings it would violate law. Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder
“But that is not the law in Georgia. Rather, election officials have a non-discretionary duty to certify results by 5 p.m. six days after Election Day,” the lawsuit reads. “Allegations of fraud or election misconduct are then resolved by the courts in properly filed challenges, not by county boards in the counting process.”
Another election certification lawsuit is pending in Fulton court between Fulton Election Board Member Julie Adams and the Fulton County Board of Elections and Registration. Adam is asking the Georgia court to overhaul the law so that local officials can refuse to certify results.
VoterGa, an influential group that has supported the same election rules advanced by the three board members in recent weeks, defended King, Jeffares, and Johnston’s actions Monday. The political dynamics of the state board shifted this year with the appointments of loyal Trump supporters Jeffares and King to replace two moderate Republicans.
At his rally in Atlanta earlier this month, Trump called the trio “pitbulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory.”
VoterGa co-founder Garland Favorito disagreed that the election board has broken open meeting laws or passed an illegal certification rule.
“We have led the election integrity movement in Georgia for over 17 years and believe it is important to distinguish the difference between Georgia election law and political theater,” Favorito said in a statement.
Several Georgia election officials have declined to certify the results since the 2020 election because of discrepancies in voter registration data or when a recount yielded a different vote totals from the initial machine count.
In those instances, either the majority of members voted to certify the results, the reasons for inaccuracies were resolved before the certification deadline or the secretary of state was able to use the initial count after a Coffee County board refused to certify a recount of the 2020 presidential race.
Georgia Recorder is part of States Newsroom, a nonprofit news network supported by grants and a coalition of donors as a 501c(3) public charity. Georgia Recorder maintains editorial independence. Contact Editor John McCosh for questions: info@georgiarecorder.com. Follow Georgia Recorder on Facebook and X.