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By David Hancock [Edited by Eduardo Vidal]
Suwanee, Georgia - - Sunday, September 1, 2024

[David Hancock is a member of the Gwinnett County Board of Voter Registrations and Elections in Georgia, and is based in Suwanee, Georgia.]

Unceasing propaganda from the left has fostered a misunderstanding of the rules for certification passed by the Georgia State Election Board in the leadup to the 2024 election. The attacks have now culminated in a “Hail Mary” lawsuit from the Democrat Party of Georgia - - a desperate attempt to stop implementation of such rules for certification before November 5th. The lawsuit is baseless and misguided.

The Democrats have even recruited party loyalists who serve on county election boards to be a part of the legal action, claiming that the new rules will allow Trump supporters to delay election certification at the county level, and thereby the entire State of Georgia. Ironically, the rules they are trying to block will actually facilitate certification, not delay it.

Elections in Georgia are run at the county level by the Election Superintendent, in most cases consisting of a Board of three to five members, appointed by the county’s political parties. State law outlines the responsibilities of this Board, one of which (O.C.G.A. 21-2-70) is “to inspect systematically and thoroughly the conduct of primaries and elections in the several precincts of his or her county.”

These and other legal requirements have resulted in Board members voting not to certify an election when they were not able to inspect election related documents. The new rules do not give Board members any new powers, but the new rules do ensure that the election administration staff will have the materials available for review before the Board has to vote on whether to certify an election. This is a tremendous improvement over the prior situation, as Board members in the past have been forced on occasion to go through a cumbersome Open Records process in order to view these documents. Once fully implemented, the chance of any Board member not being able to certify election results will be greatly reduced.

An additional benefit from the new rules is that election processes outlined in state law may be more closely followed. “You don’t get what you expect, you get what you inspect,” as the saying goes, and once election staff and poll workers realize that their performance could potentially receive additional scrutiny, they may expend the extra effort to check and perhaps double-check their work. An election is probably 95% process, and an error in process is much easier to catch at the polling location, than it is later during a voter challenge.

So, if Board members have always been able (and encouraged) to inspect documents, and have always been able to vote ‘NO’ on certification, why are the Democrats so determined to block rules which streamline certification? It may be a part of an overall strategy to create doubt and confusion around the election process, and the lawsuit may just be a part of their misinformation campaign. A competent attorney who understands the rule-making process of the Georgia State Election Board process would not have brought such a lawsuit and duped Board members into participating.

The Georgia State Election Board cannot pass rules which conflict with state or federal law. Every rule considered must first go through the State’s legislative counsel, which then provides a copy to the presiding officers of the House and Senate. The proposed rule is then assigned to the chairperson of the appropriate committee (and any interested committee members) in each house for review. Rules are also posted for public review and comment. At any point during this process, an objection could shut down the process and, as has happened in the past, take the rule out of consideration and back to the drawing board.

Contrary to contrived objections to these rules, Board members in Georgia’s counties want to certify the election results on time. Conjecture that the new rules can be used by “Election Deniers” to cause confusion around the 2024 election appear to be a case of the Democrats accusing Republicans of what they are doing themselves.

Board members around the state remain hopeful that these rules will be implemented and will be one more step in ensuring that elections in Georgia will be certified accurately and on time.

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