DNC Sues Georgia Election Board For Passing Rules Delaying Certification of Results
The Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Democratic Party of Georgia sued the State Election Board for passing rules this month that could delay the certification of election results.
The Democrats, along with several county election board members, filed a lawsuit challenging what they call the “reasonable inquiry rule” passed on Aug. 6 and the “examination rule” passed on Aug. 19.
Both of these rules have been pushed by the three Republican members of the board who have said they view election certification not as a ministerial or mandatory duty, but as a discretionary act.
After the 2020 election, Trump and his allies filed 65 lawsuits challenging the election results, 14 of which were in Georgia.
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These board members — Janice Johnston, Rick Jeffares, and Janelle King — have been praised by former President Donald Trump for passing rules like this, being called “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency, and victory.”
The “reasonable inquiry rule” states that a county board can only certify an election “after reasonable inquiry that the tabulation and canvassing of the election are complete and accurate and that the results are a true and accurate accounting of all votes cast in that election.”
The “examination rule” allows individual county election board members to “examine all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections prior to certification of results.”
The DNC and the other plaintiffs asked the state court to declare that under Georgia law, the certification of election results is a mandatory duty and election superintendents don’t have discretion to delay certification or not to certify at all. Also, the Democrats urged the court to mandate that Nov. 5 election results must be certified by 5 p.m. on Nov. 12.
If the two rules mentioned in the lawsuit are not interpreted within the context of state law that makes certification mandatory, then the court should block the implementation of the rules and rule that they are “an invalid and unlawful exercise of [the board’s] authority,” the plaintiffs argued in their complaint.
The State Election Board has not yet responded to the lawsuit.