Kemp Under Fire: Georgia Democrats Push for Ethics Hearing Amid Election Board Controversy

Gov. Brian Kemp addresses the House of Representatives at the Capitol in Atlanta, on Sine Die, the last day of the legislative session, Thursday, March 28, 2024. (Arvin Temkar/Atlanta Journal-Constitution via AP)

A group of Georgia Democrats who are pursuing ethics charges against three MAGA Republican members of the Georgia State Election Board are suing GOP Gov. Brian Kemp over his failure to hold a public hearing in the matter.

The petition was filed Tuesday by state Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes (D), former Fulton County election board Chair Cathy Woolard and Democratic Georgia Senate candidate Randal Mangham. The plaintiffs said they each filed formal ethics complaints against three members of the ethics board in August. 

“State law is clear, Kemp has a duty to act,” Parkes said on X, “but he’s abdicated responsibility. If the governor won’t stop MAGA from hijacking our election, a judge will force him to.”

Under Georgia law, when formal ethics charges are filed with the governor, alleging a violation of state laws governing the conduct of public officials and employees, the governor is required to conduct a hearing “for the purpose of receiving evidence relative to the merits of such charges.”

The lawsuit says Kemp hasn’t performed this duty. The plaintiffs are asking the Fulton County court to compel Kemp to refer the charges to the Office of Administrative Hearings for a hearing on the ethics complaints.

But Kemp’s office indicated that the plaintiffs’ ethics complaints, all of which are included in the lawsuit, aren’t formal charges. In a statement to Democracy Docket, a spokesman said the office doesn’t comment on pending litigation, but added that “there have been no formal charges filed that would trigger the governor’s statutory authority to take action on these matters. As he has done in the past, the governor will follow the laws and constitution of our state.” 

In an opinion issued Sept. 6, Attorney General Chris Carr (R) explained that “formal charges” indicate “the requirement of something more than simply a generalized grievance brought by a member of the public.”

Carr said that while “formal charges” isn’t clearly defined under Georgia law, it must be sufficient to provide due process notice to the “member of any such board, commission, or authority” being accused of a violation of state law.

The three ethics complaints came after the board passed a new rule on Aug. 6 that could delay certification of the election. The rule says officials can only certify an election after conducting a “reasonable inquiry” into the results. Another rule passed on Aug. 19 allows county election members to examine all election-related documents. Those rules took effect in September and prompted lawsuits from both Democrats and Republicans.

Most recently, the board made national headlines when it passed a rule that would require three election workers at every polling place to hand count ballots cast on Election Day, even after they’ve already been counted by ballot scanners. The board’s three GOP members — Janice Johnston, Rick Jeffares and Janelle King — voted in favor of the rule. Chair John Fervier, who voted against it, raised concerns that the board went beyond its duty to interpret laws, not make them, especially months away from a presidential race. 

In Tuesday’s complaint, the plaintiffs say the three board members changed rules and regulations “to favor one political party and its candidates over others,” violating the ethical requirement that board members never engage in conduct that is “unbecoming to a member or which constitutes a breach of public trust.”

One of the plaintiffs, Woolard, resigned as chair of the Fulton County Board of Registrations & Elections in July. On Aug. 16, about a week after the state board passed the first new certification rule, she filed a formal complaint with Kemp, expressing concerns about the members’ conduct. Woolard sought a hearing within 30 days of the order to quickly resolve the matter before the election.

The ethics complaint accuses the members of violating the state’s open meetings law and ignoring counsel from the state attorney general’s office when it held a July 12 meeting without public participation.

Parkes’ complaint, included in the lawsuit, also accuses the members of illegally coordinating with the Georgia Republican Party and helping to aid former President Donald Trump in winning the state.

Woolard noted an instance in which Trump, at a rally in Atlanta on Aug. 3, called the members out by name, describing them as  “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency, and victory.”

“Member Johnston attended the rally,” the complaint said, “sat in the second row, and stood for applause while Trump repeatedly thanked her. Member King later stated she was “grateful for [Trump’s] encouragement and support.”

Woolard’s complaint said the trio’s conduct has created an “unacceptable appearance that their goal is to secure Trump’s victory in Georgia by any means necessary.”

Read the petition here.

Read about the board’s new rules here.