Georgia election board says counties can do more to investigate election results

ATLANTA -- Georgia's State Election Board voted Tuesday to require county election officials to make a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying election results to the state, signaling that fights about approving election results could intensify this November in the South's premier battleground state.

Supporters say 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.

“Why one would not want to assume there is some oversight?" asked State Election Board member Janice Johnston, who was appointed the panel by the state Republican Party. "It’s the duty of the board to provide some oversight, in a fair way, in a reasonable way.”

But opponents of the rule say 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.

”The proposed rule changes will give authority to local election officials to halt the counting of votes and slow down, or even outright refuse certification if they contend there are any irregularities, essentially making the certification of election results discretionary,” said House Minority Whip Sam Park, a Democrat from Lawrenceville. “The key word there is discretionary. This would essentially give partisan county board of elections personal control over Georgia’s election results, allowing them to uphold certifying the election if they disagree with the results.”

The rule will take effect after 20 days, although it could be challenged in court.

It's yet another battle over what had long been an administrative afterthought, state and local boards certifying the results. With 90 days left in the presidential campaign, there could be more fighting in narrowly divided swing states.

Former President Donald Trump and his allies have tried to block certification to stop election results from being made final if they lose. In 2020, two Republicans on Michigan’s state board of canvassers, which must certify ballot totals before state officials can declare a winner, briefly balked at signing off before one relented and became the decisive vote. Trump had cheered the delay as part of his push to overturn his loss that ultimately culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

During the 2022 midterms, some conservative, rural counties tried to hold up their state election results, citing the same debunked claims of voter fraud that Trump has made.

In Georgia, state officials had to order rural Coffee County to certify in 2020. In May Republican-appointed Fulton County election board member Julie Adams refused to certify primary election results after she filed a lawsuit backed by the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute that argues county election board members have the discretion to reject certification. The rule the board adopted Tuesday was proposed by Michael Heekin, the other Republican-appointed member of the Fulton County board.

Heekin on Tuesday rebutted claims that reasonable is a subjective term, saying it has an established legal meaning.

“It’s guardrails to make the point that what we are doing is very important and it’s not to be taken lightly," Heekin told the state board.

But Democrats and voting rights groups fear that Republicans on the board are laying the groundwork for Trump to dispute a Kamala Harris victory in Georgia.

“I’m saying that adopting a rule that’s inconsistent with the statute and over 100 years of Georgia Supreme Court precedent is outside the authority of the board,” said Nikhel Sus, a lawyer for Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal-leaning group that focuses on government ethics and accountability.

Tuesday's action comes after a trio of Republican partisans aligned with Trump took control of the five-member regulatory board. It has no direct role in determining election results, but writes rules to ensure that elections run smoothly and hears complaints about violations.

Trump himself praised those members during a rally in Atlanta on Saturday, saying the three “are all pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory,” but criticizing the Democrat on the board and the nonpartisan chairman appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp, saying they “aren't so good.” Trump in particular singled out Johnston, a retired obstetrician and frequent critic of elections in deeply Democratic Fulton County, who was in the second row at Saturday's rally and stood to acknowledge Trump's praise.

“My courage was contagious?” Trump said after Johnston stood. “Well, your courage is contagious, too.”

Critics of the board’s entanglement with Trump and Republican Party politics argue that it’s not just unseemly, but may be violating the board’s own code of conduct, which says members of the board “shall be honest, fair, and avoid any appearance of conflict and/or impropriety.”

Board member Janelle King, whose appointment cemented control to the Trump-aligned faction, denied that she's unduly influenced by her party. State Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon recently emailed proposed rules and talking points to the third member of the faction, former state Sen. Rick Jeffares.

“I don’t make decisions based on what side of the aisle wants me to do something,” King told reporters. “I look at the facts, I look at the evidence, I look at what’s in front of me, and I see if this is a good rule.”