Georgia election board's new 'common sense' election integrity rule has angered all the right people

The Republican-led Georgia State Election Board voted 3-2 on Monday to approve a new rule empowering local officials to ensure that the "total number of ballots cast" does not exceed "the total number of persons who voted."

The Associated Press indicated that the rule requires county election officials to generate voter lists categorized by voting method and then to check for duplicates and other discrepancies. If such errors are found, then officials are required to launch an investigation, hand count, and seek remedy. Upon resolving the discrepancies, only those returns that "are entitled to be counted" will be recorded then verified.

The rule, the proposal for which was submitted Cobb County GOP Chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs, also states that county election officials "shall be permitted to examine all election-related documentation created during the conduct of elections" prior to certifying the results.

Grubbs has emphasized that the purpose of the rule is not to disrupt the election process but rather to protect its integrity, reported the Georgia Recorder.

"We have to have assurance, as Georgians, that what we see printed on our ballot is exactly [accurate] and the only way to do that is by a handwritten affiliation on the precinct level," said Grubbs.

Grubbs told CNN, "We have to have assurance, as Georgians, that what we see printed on our ballot is exactly how the balance and the only way to do that is by a handwritten affiliation on the precinct level."

'These rules will improve voter confidence in our elections process.'

Democrats and other leftists in the state have expressed outrage in response to this effort to fortify Georgian elections and make sure that only accurate results are certified in an orderly fashion.

Ben Berwick, head of election law at a political outfit co-founded by Obama White House Counsel's Office lawyers, told ProPublica, "If this rule is adopted, any claims of fraud, any claims of discrepancies, could be the basis for a county board member — acting in bad faith — to say, 'I'm not confident in the results,' and hold up certification under the flimsiest of pretext."

"The bottom line here," continued Berwick, is that "election deniers are intentionally creating a failure point in the process where they can interfere if they don't like the results of an election."

Lauren Groh-Wargo, CEO of Fair Fight, the leftist organization founded by failed gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams (D), said in a statement, "Trump and the MAGA operation are using the Georgia State Election Board to give the appearance of legality to their illegal scheme to obstruct certification of Georgia's 2024 election results."

At the state election board meeting Monday, Republican board member Janelle King — whom dozens of Georgia House Democrats are trying to have replaced — said, "A lot of the attacks I'm hearing is centered around the idea that this particular rule, or some of these rules that were being presented, are being presented based off of us chasing some ghosts that didn't exist, or some conspiracy theory, some hypothetical."

"I just want to make sure I note that several times it's been notated that there were issues that took place in the election cycles, particularly 2020," added King.

Josh McKoon, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, noted on X that Democrats are effectively panicked over rules

• "Permitting the poll watches from all parties to observe the processing of ballots wherever that activity occurs";
• "Asking poll workers to reconcile the poll book and the number of votes tallies at the precinct";
• "Asking counties to post the early voting reports they run anyway on a daily basis to their website or in a prominent location in their courthouse"; and
• "Permitting members of any Board of Election the opportunity to review information prior to the certification deadline."

"These rules would easily pass if put to a vote of the legislature or the people of Georgia," said McKoon. "They do not unduly burden elections offices. These rules will improve voter confidence in our elections process"

McKoon added, "It is frankly irresponsible for anyone to suggest these common sense measures would 'create chaos' in an elections process that a significant number of Georgians have lost confidence in over the last several years."

The state GOP chairman noted further that leftist organizations have sought to intimidate members of the board into "reversing course."

"No one opposing these rule changes has offered any reality based criticism of them," continued McKoon. "So you have to wonder why are Democrats willing to use these scorched earth tactics to stop poll watchers from meaningfully observing a Georgia election?"

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