ATLANTA — Critics of some of new Georgia State Election Board rules are asking a judge for an emergency hearing to overturn the rules. This comes as early voting is due to start in three weeks.
The challenge to the new rules comes from political conservatives who say the election board has overstepped its authority.
When former President Donald Trump shouted out his state election board allies during an Atlanta rally last month, one of them stood and waved to the crowd after Trump said they were "fighting for honesty, transparency and victory.”
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A few days later, that member -- Dr. Janice Johnston -- helped enact new election rules to placate some of the complaints Trump supporters made when they challenged the 2020 election.
Some of those rules are now under legal challenge, with a new request for an emergency court hearing prior to the start of early voting in three weeks.
"You can't make election rule changes this close to an election because it creates chaos," said Brian Robinson, who is the plaintiffs’ spokesman.
The changes are:
- Require video surveillance of absentee drop boxes
- Give local officials more leeway to reject absentee ballots
- Give county election boards discretion over certifying results.
- And require a hand count of ballots by poll workers, separate from the vote count.
Robinson said because none of these rules are in state law, the new rules are illegal.
Trying to enforce them, he says, will only slow the election results processed by election workers who aren’t trained in the new rules.
"One thing that we have talked about for four years is that delayed results create disbelief. They create doubt about the election," Robinson said. "It makes people think that there are hijinks that are happening behind closed doors. There is something that builds credibility and builds trust by moving quickly (on election night)."
The plaintiffs in the suit want the courts to move quickly now – filing an emergency order to try to get a decision from the courts before early voting starts in three weeks.