Saturday, August 31, 2024

GA and National DEMS: Have Sued Election Board for Illegal Election Tactics

Georgia State Board of Elections
(3 of 5 in Trump's camp as he praised them)

The GA State Election Board (5 members:  3 GOP; 2 DEM; and 1 non-partisan appointee chairman). 

(This post also updates my earlier post here  re: GA Board of Elections craziness).

The three GOPers are way out control regarding election results certification reported on from CBS News and on other major media outlets (e.g., The AP here) with this headline:

“GA Democrats sue over rules they say could block election certifications”

Atlanta — The GA state and national Democratic parties sued to block two recent rules adopted by Georgia's State Election Board (3-2 GOP-leaning vote) that could be used by county officials who want to refuse to certify an election, potentially causing delays in finalizing the state's results.

1. The lawsuit, filed before a state judge in Atlanta, argues the rules violate a state law that makes certification a mandatory duty based on the actual votes and NOT based on personal hunches, guesses, or itchy palms.

(My insert: The BOE acts as an umpire who reports election results NOT serve as referees who along the way make up or decide new on-the-spot rules willy-nilly).  

The lawsuit says the rules invite post-election chaos, which the board is defying

GA state law clearly says: County officials shall certify.”

(Note: They are not to change the rules or be a judge along the way just to please Trump, et al).

Fact: More than a century of court precedent in GA finds county officials have no wiggle room.

2. The suit asks the judge to find the rules are invalid because the State Election Board, now dominated by the 3 allies of Trump, is exceeding its legal authority.

The BOE vote alarms DEMS & voting rights activists against the raw partisan struggle over procedures that even predate the 2020 election.

My 2 Cents: The general summary of the above once again to measure the ugly nasty impact of that GA BOE 3-2 vote:

Repeat of the Heart of the Issue and the Pending Lawsuit:

BOE (3-2 vote) changing the rules invite post-election chaos, that the board is defying state law that clearly says: “County officials shall certify (not change or modify) the outcome.”

More than a century of court precedent in GA finds county officials have no wiggle room.

The lawsuit states in this key part:  According to the BOE drafters, these rules rest on the assumption that certification of election results by a county board is discretionary and subject to free-ranging action that the 3-2 board calls: REASONABLE INQUIRY, that may delay certification or foreclose it entirely. But that is not the law in Georgia.”

Impact if the unlawful rule (3-2 vote) is allowed to stand: It could impact other states as well and disrupt the entire 2024 election voter certification outcome.

The GA highest court, or the AG or SOS must overturn that wild and unlawful BOE vote. Now we wait to see.

Thanks for stopping by.


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