Georgia Election Board members accused of ethics violations
Three Georgia State Election Board members are the targets of ethics complaints stemming from the recent approval of changes that would now require local election boards to look for discrepancies before they can certify results.
Fox – 5 Atlanta
County election boards in Georgia cannot delay or refuse to certify election results, a state judge ruled on Tuesday, striking a blow to a Republican-led effort in the state to broaden the authority of local election officials.
“Election superintendents in Georgia have a mandatory fixed obligation to certify election results,” wrote Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney in an 11-page ruling. “Consequently, no election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance.”
The ruling rejected an argument brought by Fulton County election board member Julie Adams, who refused to certify the results of the state’s presidential and general primaries this spring.
Adams claimed that she needed access to detailed voting data – including voter sign-in lists, drop box custody forms, and other documents – before deciding whether to vote in favor of certifying the election.
But Georgia law requires certification, McBurney ruled, and county election boards cannot refuse to do so based on suspicion of fraud or miscounted votes.
McBurney wrote that “Georgia voters would be silenced” if local election officials were “free to play investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge” based on their own “unilateral determination of error or fraud.”
“Our Constitution and our election code do not allow for that to happen,” McBurney concluded.
Much of how Georgia handles the upcoming election will likely hinge on a series of hearings this week.
McBurney is set to hear another case on Tuesday that aims to invalidate six new rules passed by the Republican-majority State Election Board last month. The rules require a hand-count of ballots on election night, as well as additional poll watchers in tabulation centers, daily posting of the number of people who voted in each county, and reconciliation reports of ballot counts.
The last-minute rule changes have been widely criticized by Democrats and some Republicans, the state attorney general’s office, and the secretary of state’s office.
“They are a mess,” Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger previously told USA TODAY.
Seeking to delay or refuse certification has been an increasingly popular tactic among Republican election board members since 2020. At least 19 board members across Georgia have refused to certify elections, according to an investigation by the Atlanta Journal Constitution.
McBurney will soon rule on another lawsuit brought by Georgia Democrats, who are contesting a State Election Board rule that calls for an undefined “reasonable inquiry” before boards certify elections. The rule, critics say, is purposefully vague, potentially leaving room for a dragged out “inquiry” process.
Melissa Cruz is an elections reporting fellow who focuses on voter access issues for the USA TODAY Network. You can reach her at mcruz@gannett.com or on X, formerly Twitter, at @MelissaWrites22.