New rules from GOP-majority election board could cause disarray in battleground Georgia
CNN
The once-wonky Georgia State Election Board has burst into the limelight this year as a new Republican majority – made up of a retired obstetrician, a former state senator who put out feelers for a Trump administration job and a right-wing media personality – push ahead with new rules that could create chaos in November.
The once-wonky Georgia State Election Board has burst into the limelight this year as a new Republican majority – made up of a retired obstetrician, a former state senator who put out feelers for a Trump administration job and a right-wing media personality – push ahead with new rules that could create chaos in November. The reshaping of the election board in one of the most critical battleground states of 2024 highlights how some Republicans who cast doubt on the 2020 presidential election results have now taken on prominent roles driving election rules and, in some areas, overseeing elections. With less than two months before Election Day, three Republicans on the five-member board are pushing through new rules that could jeopardize election certification, particularly if Vice President Kamala Harris wins the state, election experts and voting rights groups said. “We can’t be doing this at the last minute because it creates chaos. And chaos undermines confidence in our elections, full stop,” said Sarah Tindall Ghazal, the lone Democrat on the board. She has kept a low profile since she was appointed in 2021 but has recently emerged in the press to try to counter the election board’s sharp right turn. The board is set to consider another slate of new rules at its September 20 meeting. “They’re not taking the advice of attorneys, they’re not taking the advice of election administrators – who are really critical in this whole calculus – and they’re certainly not listening to anybody who doesn’t think that the elections are rigged,” she said of the three Republicans driving the raft of rule changes.