Democrats File Lawsuit Against Georgia Election Officials Over New Certification Rules

 

On Monday, Democrats filed a lawsuit against Georgia state election officials, challenging recently introduced rules that could permit local officials to delay the certification of the November presidential election results. The lawsuit was brought in Fulton County Superior Court by local Democratic politicians, the Democratic National Committee, and the Democratic Party of Georgia.

The lawsuit argues that the new rules, approved earlier this month by Georgia's Republican-controlled state election board, are illegal. According to the plaintiffs, these rules are designed to allow individual county election officials to postpone or cancel the certification of votes, thereby undermining the established post-election process.

The lawsuit asserts that the rules create significant uncertainty and could lead to chaos by contradicting existing statutory duties. Despite requests for comment, the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, which oversees the election board, did not respond.

The five-member Georgia election board, which includes three members supported by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, recently voted to empower county election board members to investigate discrepancies between the number of ballots cast and the number of voters in each precinct before certification. Voting rights advocates warn that such mismatches are common and are not typically indicative of fraud, but fear that the new rule could allow individual board members to intentionally delay results.

Additionally, the board has approved a rule requiring county election boards to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” into any irregularities before certifying results, without defining what constitutes “reasonable” or setting a deadline for completing these inquiries.

The Democrats' lawsuit emphasizes that it is the judicial system's responsibility, not individual county election officials, to address allegations of voter fraud. The lawsuit comes amid ongoing claims by former President Donald Trump that the 2020 election was fraudulent, a claim widely discredited by research showing that voter fraud in the U.S. is extremely rare.

The upcoming election on November 5 is expected to be closely contested, with Georgia among the key states likely to determine the outcome.