Three months from Election Day, Georgia election board alters rules

Georgia’s election board has approved a measure that allows county election boards to make a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying election results.

However, critics of the move are sounding the alarm, saying it will open the door to overreach.

“The majority on the State Election Board has created the opportunity for county board members to either delay or fail to certify based solely on speculation, rumor, or their own political preferences,” ACLU of Georgia Executive Director Andrea Young said in a statement.

“We want to remind county boards that certifying election results is an administrative task,” Young added. “Doing anything more than this is an overreach by county boards and beyond the scope of their authority. By passing this petition, the State Election Board is setting a precedent that it is acceptable to make substantial changes to our election rules just 90 days before an election.”

The executive director of Georgia’s Board of Elections did not respond to a request for comment on the board’s move.

According to the ACLU, state law mandates that county elections boards – or the probate judge in some counties without an elections board – certify the county’s election results by 5 p.m. the Monday after an election. State officials told The Center Square that since the Monday after the election this year is Veterans Day, a state holiday, the deadline is the next day.

When asked about the state board’s 3-2 vote to pass the measure, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office said it expects local elections boards to certify their results on time.

“Georgia’s Election Integrity Act requires counties to certify the election results by November 12 and we fully anticipate that counties will follow the law,” Georgia’s Secretary of State’s Office said in a statement to The Center Square.

Elections have been a hot topic in the Peach State since the 2020 presidential election, with state lawmakers passing multiple election measures, including the high-profile Senate Bill 202, also known as the Election Integrity Act of 2021.

“Another big win from the Georgia State Election Board,” Greater Georgia, which former Republican U.S. Sen. Kelly Loeffler launched, said in a social media post. “Yesterday, they passed a new rule allowing counties to conduct ‘reasonable inquiry’ before certifying elections, meaning discrepancies will be investigated BEFORE election … results are final - not after!”