Democrats Sue Georgia Election Board Over New Rules That Could Delay Vote Certification

Democrats sued Georgia’s State Election Board on Monday, asking a judge to block new rules the party claims could cause “chaos” and allow local officials to potentially delay or even stop the certification of votes in November.

The suit — filed by the Democratic Party of Georgia and the Democratic National Committee, with backing from Vice President Kamala Harris’ presidential campaign — comes after the election board voted to shift its rules regarding the certification process. In a 3-2 vote, the body gave local election officials the power to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying any results. A separate rule will also allow those officials to “examine all election related documentation created” during a race.

The rule changes do not define what “reasonable inquiry” means.

“At minimum, these novel requirements introduce substantial uncertainty in the post-election process and … invite chaos by establishing new processes at odds with existing statutory duties,” the suit says.

“If these requirements are interpreted as the drafters assert,” the suit goes on, “county boards or other superintendents could (unlawfully) delay certifying an election in order to complete a ‘reasonable inquiry,’ or could even (unlawfully) purport to exercise discretion regarding whether to certify at all.”

The lawsuit has asked a state judge to invalidate the new rules, saying the election board has exceeded its authority. The parties argued that any claims of fraud or misconduct should be handled by the courts, not local officials.

The chair of the Georgia Democratic Party also pointed to former President Donald Trump’s praise for the three members of the election board who voted for the new rules.

“The three members Donald Trump called his ‘pit bulls’ for ‘victory’ disagree, and they’re determined to establish a new power of not certifying an election result should their preferred candidate lose — as he did in 2020,” Rep. Nikema Williams (D-Ga.), who chairs the state Democratic Party, said in a statement.

The legal filing will open up old wounds in Georgia after Trump attempted to overturn the state’s election results in 2020 following his loss to Joe Biden by just under 12,000 votes. That effort is the crux of one of the former president’s criminal indictments, notably the moment when he asked Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” the number of ballots needed to see him declared the victor.

Raffensperger, a Republican, criticized the election board’s new rules earlier this month, saying the shift risked undermining voter confidence while burdening election workers.

“Misguided attempts by the State Election Board will delay election results and undermine chain of custody safeguards,” he said in a statement at the time. “Georgia voters reject this 11th-hour chaos, and so should the unelected members of the State Election Board.”

Republicans have argued the new rules will only further ensure election integrity, an argument based on false claims of electoral malfeasance that remain popular in conservative circles.

“These common-sense changes will benefit all Georgians, regardless of political affiliation as they are all designed to increase transparency and public confidence regarding our elections,” the state’s GOP chairman, Josh McKoon, said in a statement Monday to The Associated Press.