ATLANTA — Starting in early September, the Georgia State Election Board began making several election rule changes ahead of November's presidential election.
Former State Representative Mike Dudgeon said the board overstepped.
"This is really about the separation of powers and who gets to make the law. The Georgia constitution says that the legislature should regulate elections," Dudgeon said.
It is why this week Dudgeon and eight other current or former Republican lawmakers filed a brief to support a lawsuit against several of the rule changes.
"In my opinion and many others, the election board, even if well-intentioned, is doing things that are really under the purview of the legislature."
In late September, Attorney General Chris Carr, also a Republican, wrote a member to the board making a similar statement. Carr wrote in the memo "the Board runs substantial risk of intruding upon the General Assembly's constitutional right to legislate."
In the suit supported by Dudgeon, the rule changes in question impact the certification process for elections on the county level and expand requirements for dropping absentee ballots off at drop boxes.
Janelle King is one of three Republican board members who approved the changes. She wrote 11Alive today in response to the lawsuit, saying in part: "There have been complaints from both sides of the aisle since 2016. How many more years will we cling to the status quo instead of evaluating the system and enhancing the integrity of our elections?"
Dudgeon said some of the rules changes the board has recently passed might be well intended, but he believes lawmakers, not the board, should have the final say.
"To make sure that any major changes or things that make serious ramifications of elections will come through the people's representatives in the legislature," Dudgeon commented.
A hearing on the lawsuit is scheduled for Wednesday in Fulton County.