Georgia election board goes from moribund to MAGA activist

https://www.democracydocket.com/analysis/georgias-democracy-in-peril-election-looms-amid-rising-threats/?utm_source=Democracy+Docket+Newsletters&utm_campaign=a36c297353-20240830_dailydocket_CH&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_-79f5309977-%5BLIST_EMAIL_ID%5D&mc_cid=a36c297353&mc_eid=309d78f259

Georgia has long been subject to questionable voter purges supported by Gov. Brian Kemp and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, both Republicans. Under a new law, an individual citizen can challenge the voter registration of tens of thousands of voters "based on unvetted documentation and unreliable information . . . , such as screenshots of purported property records or social media posts." Federal courts are reviewing the law and the implementation.

However, the newest attack on election integrity comes from the formerly inactive state board of elections. With the appointment of a majority of MAGA members, they have adopted the now well-known procedure for each county election board to refuse to certify an election as they conduct a "reasonable inquiry" to determine whether tabulation and canvassing are true and accurate. The existing practice has been to tally the results from mail-in ballots and various polling stations and to leave dispute resolution to the courts.

"[T]he Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials (GAVREO), which is composed of over 500 county election workers and officials across the state, asked the board to stop passing last-minute rule changes," however, they plan to consider new rules at a meeting scheduled for September 20.