Nowadays, it would seem that I am reviewing an alternate universe when I state the Georgia Republican Party had a very good election night on Tuesday, Nov. 3, 2020.
The incumbent Republican Party U.S. Senator David Perdue won his race by a plurality and two percentage points.
Two Public Service Commission candidates won by majority and plurality. Only one GOP congressional incumbent, Representative Karen Handel, lost her seat to Representative Lucy McBath in a closely watched and nationally targeted race. The GOP slightly increased its majorities in the State House and State Senate.
However, incumbent President Donald J. Trump lost his race to former Vice-President Joe Biden by a final recount and certified tally of 12,670 votes (.026 percent). Trump and his legal team and supporters would go on to use every recount, appeal, and legal mechanism in an attempt to overturn or at least throw into question those results.
However, the resulting Jan. 6, 2021, Electoral College Congressional certification would find Joe Biden as president-elect. And now, closing on four years later, after losing every legal judgment and lawsuit, Trump’s one-time chief legal counsel, “America’s Mayor” Rudy Giuliani, has been disbarred as well as lost a multimillion-dollar libel judgment against two Fulton County election workers ($148-million award upheld on appeal), and two other lead counsels also face bar sanctions, fines and pleading guilty to civil statutes – while Trump and many of his supporters still believe the contest to be stolen.
Georgia’s General Assembly has altered election laws during almost every legislative session since. Some practical changes made sense, such as requiring voter identification to be used for voting via absentee ballot or drop box. Other revisions seemed to be offering solutions in search of a problem.
But if anything is clear, for the next election, Team Trump is building out Plan B for blocking the certification of election results it does not like or agree with. To this end, Trump supporters have been appointed to both state and local election boards in multiple states. Election board members review election results and certify the math and tabulations at the county and precinct levels to the state.
Certified county results are later transmitted to the state for final tallying and recertification.
Before 2020, the State Election Board (SEB) in Georgia comprised the Secretary of State as chair, a non-partisan vice-chair appointed by the governor, and two appointees each from the Democratic and Republican parties.
Several state election law changes have occurred since. Still, in summary, the Secretary was removed, the governor now appoints a non-partisan chair, each state party has one appointment, and the Lieutenant Governor and House Speaker each have one appointment. Like any other state-appointed board, the SEB also has “rulemaking authority,” flowing up and under prevailing state law.
All three newest appointees to the board are Republican, unabashed supporters of the former president, and election hawks who believe more oversight and inspection are needed for almost every election.
Additionally, new rules, also opposed or cautioned against adoption by Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, Attorney General Chris Carr, and former Georgia Governor Nathan Deal (all Republicans), categorize these proposed changes, including ballot tabulation by hand, as both unnecessary and likely to delay or stall election results and certification, potentially impacting the final certification of all Georgia election results.
Unfortunately, via multiple 3-1 votes of the SEB, new rule changes allow any single local county election board member to request and review any document related to completing certification and conduct a reasonable review/inquiry in the event of any concerns about tabulation.
Some authorities and entities have investigative responsibility and authority over local, state, and federal elections.
Those powers are not vested in local boards of election.
Trump recently applauded by name the three new GOP SEB board members during his ill-fated Atlanta rally, where he spent almost as much time criticizing Georgia’s GOP Governor Brian Kemp and the state’s First Family as he did criticizing his Democratic opponents.
Though the goal of these changes is clearly partisan, the stakes — including a potential loss of integrity — for our election system are much, much higher. Legal challenges are already underway, and I believe Georgia’s Secretary of State and attorney general both have existing state law on their sides.
Regardless of party preferences, voters should decide elections, not sham rulemaking and attempts to tip the scales in search of a specific or preferred outcome.