ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia’s Democratic Party sued Monday to block two recent rules adopted by the State Election Board that could be used by county officials who want to refuse to certify an election, potentially causing delays in finalizing the state’s results. The lawsuit, filed before a state judge in Atlanta, argues the rules violate a state law that makes certification a mandatory duty. The suit asks the judge to find the rules are invalid because the State Election Board, now dominated by allies of former President Donald Trump, is exceeding its legal authority.
The actions of the board alarm Democrats and voting rights activists, playing out against Georgia's background of partisan struggle over voting procedures that predates even the 2020 presidential election. It’s a battle in yet another state over what had long been an administrative afterthought, state and local boards certifying results . The lawsuit says the rules invite post-election chaos, that the board is defying state law that says county officials “shall certify” results, and that more than a century of court precedent in Georgia finds county officials have no wiggle room.
“According to their drafters, these rules rest on the assumption that certification of election results by a county board is discretionary and subject to free-ranging inquiry that may delay certification or foreclose it entirely. But that is not the law in Georgia” states the lawsuit, filed in Fulton County Superior Court. .