A day after early voting commenced in Georgia, a significant lawsuit filed by the Democratic National Committee (DNC) and the Democratic Party of Georgia against the Georgia State Election Board (SEB) reached a resolution by Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox. Judge Cox concluded that several new rules passed by the SEB were unconstitutional and violated state laws.
The SEB, controlled by three officials endorsed by former President Trump, passed several new election rules in recent months, some of which grant county officials the power to conduct “a reasonable inquiry” into election results and access to all election-related documents before the certification process.
“They do not like the way Georgians have been voting recently, and they apparently have no compunction with effectively taking away the citizens’ right to vote — a right to have their vote accurately counted — by screwing up the administration of elections,” said David Worley, a former SEB member, told the Associated Press.
The plaintiffs in the lawsuit included former Georgia State House Rep Scot Turner (R), Chatham County Election Board member James Hall (R) and Eternal Vigilance Action, an election advocacy group. The group argued that the SEB’s action created uncertainty about the legality of their votes and the integrity of Georgia’s election process through the new rules.
The ruling states, “The loss of public confidence in election institutions four stemming from the illicit creation and exercise of the SEB Rules will directly impact and impair Eternal Vigilance Actions efforts and mission to ensure clarity and public confidence in those institutions.”
The ruling determined that seven SEB rules were unconstitutional and were not supported by the state election laws. As Judge Cox wrote, the SEB’s authority is limited to adopting rules that “carry into effect a law already passed” or to “administer and effectuate an existing enactment of the General Assembly.”
Among the disputed rules was one requiring anyone who delivers an absentee ballot in person to provide a signature and photo ID. Judge Cos wrote that this rule violates Georgia law which already lists the people who can legally deliver absentee ballots for a voter, including close family members, household members or caregivers and it does not require them to present an ID or signature.
Following the court’s decision, Fortune reported that Judge Cox “ordered the board to immediately remove the rules and to inform all state and local election officials that the rules are void and not to be followed.”
Former Rep. Turner praised the court’s decision to uphold the state’s constitutional integrity.
“It was a complete and total victory for the Constitution of the United States,” Turner reported to Fortune, “These rules were opposed by citizens that are Republican, as well as Democrats and independents. This is not about parties. It’s about doing what’s constitutional and reestablishing separation of powers, and that’s something that every conservative in this country should be concerned with and support.”
A day following the ruling, the Republican National Committee (RNC) and the Georgia Republican Party filed an emergency notice of appeal with the Georgia Supreme Court.
“By overturning the Georgia State Election Board’s common sense rules passed to safeguard Georgia’s elections, the judge sided with the Democrats in their attacks on transparency, accountability, and the integrity of our elections,” Whatley said. “We have immediately appealed this egregious order to ensure common sense rules are in place for the election — we will not let this stand, ” RNC Chairman Whatley stated to the Associated Press.
State and national Republicans also asked for the election rules to be reinstated while the appeal was pending which the Georgia Supreme Court rejected.
“The Supreme Court unanimously declined the request for expedited handling and declined to put Cox’s order on hold. The court’s order says that once the appeal is docketed, it will “proceed in the ordinary course,” which means it will likely take months before a ruling,” the Associated Press reported.
A recently appointed SEB member, Janelle King, voiced her disapproval of Judge Cox’s ruling in an interview with Meghna Chakrabarti, an NPR radio producer and journalist.
“Unfortunately, Judge Cox is very misinformed. That being said, the other rules that we presented were rules that were brought to us by election officials. Many of those rules were not opposed by the election official organization that we have here. The fact that the judge has that perspective just tells me that he is also very much misinformed as to how our election process works rather than just obtaining outcomes,” King told Chakrabarti.
With Election Day so close, many local officials are now worried about the confusion that the recent rule changes could cause so late into the voting season.