ATLANTA — Georgia's controversial State Election Board will review 11 possible rule changes that could affect the upcoming election on Friday.
State leaders, election officials and voting rights advocates are already warning about possible consequences.
"There's the merits of what they're proposing, and then there's the timeline," Fair Fight CEO Lauren Groh-Wargo told 11Alive. "The timeline is absurd and can only be viewed as folks trying to incite chaos."
She said any changes to election policies and procedures — regardless of whether she agrees with them — should've been made much earlier.
"They can push through what they push through, but I think it's clear what the state and local officials have said: this is not doable," Groh-Wargo said. "While all the noise and partisanship is happening, we really want to be clear that Georgians need to make their plan to vote."
The Georgia Secretary of State's Office has also expressed concerns about the board changing any rules ahead of the November election. The Secretary of State's General Counsel, Charlene McGowan, sent a letter on Monday to the State Election Board, writing that they have received an overwhelming number of comments from county election officials concerned about altering rules and procedures with the General Election having been only 50 days away.
"It is far too late in the election process for counties to implement new rules and procedures, and many poll workers have already completed their required training," McGowan wrote. "If the Board believes that rules changes are important for an election, the process should begin much sooner to allow for smooth implementation and training and include the input of election officials."
McGowan also said the board needed to be mindful of upcoming deadlines, such as counties beginning to mail absentee ballots on Oct. 7 and advanced voting starting on Oct. 15.
"The earliest possible date new rules could take effect if passed is October 14, which is 22 days before the General Election when Georgia voters will already be voting," McGowan wrote.
In August, the Republican-controlled board passed new certification guidelines that critics believe could "upend the required process for certifying election results."
Former President Donald Trump applauded the measure at a campaign rally shortly after, telling his supporters that "they're on fire" and "doing a great job."
"Three members — Janice Johnston, Rick Jeffares and Janelle King — three people, they’re all pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory," he said.
The new proposals could require absentee ballot tracking that costs $4 per voter, as well as hand counts of ballots to confirm accuracy.
Republican member Janelle King is behind the latter proposal. She told CNN in late August that she intended to help both parties with the new rules.
"I'm not fixing a problem that does not exist. Actually, we're preventing problems from happening in the future," she said. "If you look at 2018, there were issues that Sarah Amico had with her race against Geoff Duncan. Stacey Abrams had several issues that she complained about as well, and then Trump had issues that he complained about. So, this is something that we've seen, and I don't think it's something major. I think it's a matter of process."
The meeting begins at 9 a.m. at the Georgia Capitol on Friday.