Counties Can Do More to Investigate Elections: NPR

ATLANTA — Georgia’s state elections commission voted Tuesday to require county election officials to conduct a “reasonable investigation” before certifying election results to the state, signaling that the fight to approve election results could intensify this November in the South’s key contested state.

Supporters say the measure is needed because county election commissioners must swear that the results are accurate and must be able to adequately verify that the totals are correct before doing so.

“Why wouldn’t you want to assume that there’s some oversight?” asked Janice Johnston, a member of the State Board of Elections, who was appointed by the state Republican Party. “It’s the board’s duty to provide some oversight, in a fair and reasonable manner.”

But opponents of the rule say it is an invitation to post-election chaos and that the board is defying state law that says county officials “must certify” the results, as well as more than a century of court precedent that has found county officials have little leeway in the matter.

“The proposed rule changes would give local election officials the authority to stop vote counting and slow down, or even refuse certification altogether if they claim there are irregularities, essentially making the certification of election results discretionary,” said House Minority Leader Sam Park, a Lawrenceville Democrat. “The key word is discretionary. This would essentially give partisan county election commissions personal control over Georgia’s election results, allowing them to uphold the certification of the election if they disagree with the results.”

The rule will come into force after 20 days, although it can be challenged in court.

It’s yet another battle over what has long been an administrative afterthought, with state and local commissions certifying the results. With 90 days left in the presidential campaign, there could be more fighting in swing states.

Former President Donald Trump and his allies have sought to block certification to prevent the election results from being finalized if he loses. In 2020, two Republicans on Michigan’s state Board of Solicitors, which must certify ballot totals before state officials can declare a winner, briefly backed out of signing off before one gave in and became the deciding vote. Trump had applauded the delay as part of his effort to overturn his defeat that ultimately culminated in the Jan. 6, 2021, attack on the U.S. Capitol.

During the 2022 midterm elections, some conservative rural counties sought to block the state’s election results, citing the same since-debunked allegations of voter fraud that Trump has made.

In Georgia, state officials had to order rural Coffee County to certify in 2020. In May, Julie Adams, a Republican-appointed member of the Fulton County Board of Elections, refused to certify the primary election results after filing a lawsuit backed by the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute, which argues that county board members have discretion to refuse certification. The rule adopted by the board Tuesday was proposed by Michael Heekin, the other Republican-appointed member of the Fulton County Board of Elections.

Heekin on Tuesday refuted claims that reasonable is a subjective term, saying it has an established legal meaning.

“This is a warning sign that what we are doing is very important and should not be taken lightly,” Heekin told the state council.

But Democrats and voting rights groups fear that Republicans on the council are laying the groundwork for Trump to challenge Kamala Harris’s victory in Georgia.

“I’m saying that adopting a rule that is inconsistent with the statute and over 100 years of Georgia Supreme Court precedent is outside the board’s authority,” said Nikhel Sus, an attorney with Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington, a liberal-leaning group that focuses on government ethics and accountability.

Tuesday’s action comes after a trio of pro-Trump Republican partisans took control of the five-member regulatory board. It has no direct role in determining election results, but it writes rules to ensure elections run smoothly and hears complaints about violations.

Trump himself praised those members at a rally in Atlanta on Saturday, saying the three “are all pit bulls who are fighting for honesty, transparency and winning,” but criticized the Democrat on the board and the nonpartisan chairman appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp, saying they’re “not that good.” Trump singled out Johnston in particular, a retired obstetrician and frequent election critic in deeply Democratic Fulton County, who was in the second row at Saturday’s rally and rose to acknowledge Trump’s praise.

“Was my courage contagious?” Trump said after Johnston stood up. “Well, your courage is contagious, too.”

Critics of the board’s involvement with Trump and GOP politics argue that it is not only improper, but may also violate the board’s own code of conduct, which states that board members “shall be honest, fair, and avoid any appearance of conflict and/or impropriety.”

Council member Janelle King, whose appointment solidified control of the Trump-aligned faction, has denied that she was unduly influenced by her party. State Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon recently emailed the proposed rules and talking points to the faction’s third member, former state Sen. Rick Jeffares.

“I don’t make decisions based on which side of the aisle wants me to do something,” King told reporters. “I look at the facts, I look at the evidence, I look at what’s in front of me and see if this is a good rule.”