Democrats have filed a lawsuit against Georgia state election officials, alleging that new rules permitting local officials to potentially delay the certification of November’s presidential results are illegal.
The lawsuit, filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County, involves local Georgia Democratic politicians, the Democratic National Committee, and the Democratic Party of Georgia. It challenges rules recently approved by the Republican-controlled Georgia state election board, claiming they could allow county election officials to postpone or cancel the certification of votes.
According to the lawsuit, these new rules “introduce substantial uncertainty in the post-election process” and could create chaos by introducing processes that conflict with existing statutory duties.
The Georgia Secretary of State’s office, which oversees the board, did not comment on the matter.
Last week, the Georgia election board, which includes three conservative members appointed by Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, voted 3-2 to give county election boards the authority to investigate discrepancies between cast ballots and voter records before certifying results. Voting rights advocates argue that such discrepancies are common and not typically indicative of fraud, but fear that this rule might allow deliberate delays in results certification.
The board also recently approved a rule requiring county election boards to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” into any irregularities before certification, though it did not define “reasonable” or specify a deadline for completing the inquiry.
The Democrats’ lawsuit asserts that it is the judicial system’s responsibility, not individual county officials, to handle allegations of voter fraud. Trump has falsely claimed that the 2020 election was fraudulent, and his January 2021 phone call to Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, asking him to “find” votes, has contributed to Trump’s pending state indictment.
Voter fraud in the US is extremely rare, according to research. Trump is set to face Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential candidate, in the November 5 election, with polls showing a close race and Georgia as one of seven key states that could decide the outcome.
