ICYMI: Why some Georgia Republicans are fighting State Election Board rule changes

Atlanta, Ga. –  This morning, RightCount announced that it has filed an amicus brief in support of plaintiffs challenging the Georgia State Election Board (SEB) in the case of Eternal Vigilance Action, Inc. v. State of Georgia. RightCount, along with a coalition of nine current and former Georgia legislators, is urging the court to invalidate recently passed SEB rules, asserting that the new regulations threaten the integrity of Georgia’s electoral processes and violate the constitutional separation of powers. The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is out with fresh report out today on RightCount’s brief. Experts of the story can be found below.

This piece comes on the heels of a recent report from Politically Georgia, the AJC’s daily tipsheet, that RightCount has launched statewide ads featuring “everyday Georgians expressing their faith in the state’s voting system.”

Why some Georgia Republicans are fighting State Election Board rule changes

The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
By Greg Bluestein
October 10, 2024

A group of nine current and former Republican state legislators backed a lawsuit Thursday seeking to block new certification rules adopted by the State Election Board on grounds that the panel’s pro-Donald Trump majority exceeded its authority.

The group, led by former Georgia Senate GOP leader Eric Johnson, is just the latest of a growing number of conservatives who are pushing back against the board’s tilt toward voting policies favored by Republican allies of the former president.

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It argued the board has usurped its authority “by adopting unconstitutional rules that will bog down the administration of future elections — including the presidential election to occur in one month’s time — with vague and cumbersome process.”

And it noted the right-wing trio behind the changes approved them despite receiving a “clear, written warning” from Republican Attorney General Chris Carr’s office that the new rules could violate state law.

“These are not obscure or nuanced constitutional issues to be debated in law school hallways. The stakes are real,” states the filing, which warned the changes violate the separation of powers doctrine rooted in the Georgia Constitution since 1777.

The group seconded a challenge filed weeks ago by former Republican state Rep. Scot Turner that took aim at rules that critics say could be abused to dispute the results of the presidential election.

The case is scheduled to go to court Wednesday, with a ruling expected before the election.

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The GOP-led challenge, organized by the conservative RightCount group, echoes others pressed by Republicans at the federal level that target administrative rule making by officials they say are overstepping their authority.

Former Republican state Rep. Mike Dudgeon, who signed onto the amicus brief, was the policy director of the lieutenant governor’s office in 2021 when Republicans muscled through a controversial election rewrite that he said remains “strong and leads to secure elections.”

“That State Election Board should not, and does not have the authority to, change it,” Dudgeon said.

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And RightCount recently launched a series of ads, including one featuring everyday Georgians expressing their faith in the state’s voting system.

“By taking this stand,” said Johnson, the group’s co-chair, “we are protecting the constitutional balance of power and ensuring that the votes cast by Georgia citizens are counted and certified in accordance with the law, free from manipulation and partisan influence.”

To read the full AJC article, click here.

For more information on RightCount’s operations in Georgia visit www.rightcount.org/georgia.