ATLANTA — Georgia’s State Election Board voted Wednesday to create a committee to weigh proposed election rules before the board takes them under consideration.
Board Chairman John Fervier explained during a public meeting that the purpose of the committee will be to allow “all parties to have a voice in upcoming rules.” He said each of the election board’s five members will select two people to sit on the board and that he’d like to see a mix of election officials, citizens, attorneys and even one or two state lawmakers.
The election board will then be able to send a proposed rule to the committee to “have them vet it and smooth it out” before it comes to the board for a vote, Fervier said. The board is tasked with creating rules consistent with state law that ensure uniformity in election practices and promote the “fair, legal, and orderly conduct” of elections.
The board last year attracted national attention when it voted to approve a slew of changes to election rules in the months leading up to the November general election. Most of the changes were ultimately blocked by a judge, and the state Supreme Court recently heard an appeal of that order.
The rules were backed and approved by a Republican majority on the board, whose three members were praised by name by then-presidential candidate Donald Trump during an August campaign rally in Atlanta. The rules were adopted after contentious debate and over the objections of the independent board chair and the lone Democrat on the panel.
Supporters of the rules said they were necessary to ensure the accuracy and integrity of the election. Many Democrats and voting rights groups, though, worried that the rules would be used to try to undermine election results if Trump were to lose. Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and many county election officials also opposed the adoption of new rules so close to the election.
Changes to the state election code, some of them modeled on the rules that were halted by a judge, were considered during this year’s legislative session. But lawmakers ultimately ended the session without changing election laws.
