Georgia gave local officials significant new powers over the certification of election results on Tuesday, a move that could delay or derail future post-election certification processes.
In a 3-2 vote, the Republican-controlled State Election Board voted to define certification of election results as “certifying, after reasonable investigation, that the tabulation and counting of the election are complete and accurate and that the election results are true.” and accurate accounting of all votes cast in that election.”
O rule does not define “reasonable inquiry,” which means different counties will likely interpret the rule differently. County election boards are expected to request information and potentially delay or block certification of results if they see fit. And the resulting delays could block the timely communication of election results to state and federal authorities.
Local certification of election results was once a routine ministerial process. But after the 2020 vote, then-President Donald Trump and his allies have sought to block the process, arguing that officials have discretion to delay or block certification and hoping to use state and local officials to overturn the election results.
Since then, some counties across the country have tried or toyed with the idea of not certifying elections, though all of those efforts have failed — typically after state courts intervened.
At a recent rally, Trump applauded the three members of Georgia’s election board who voted to approve the rule change.
“I don’t know if you’ve heard, but the elections in the state of Georgia [Board] is in a very positive way,” the former president told an enthusiastic crowd in Georgia on Saturday. “They’re on fire, they’re doing a great job. Three members: Janice Johnston, Rick Jeffares and Janelle King. Three people, they are all pit bulls, fighting for honesty, transparency and victory. They are fighting.”
It’s unclear what will happen if counties refuse to certify results by the legal deadline. This year, counties are required to certify elections by 5 p.m. on November 12, one week after the November 5 elections. The state must certify by November 22nd.
“While certification is largely ceremonial, it still needs to be done to be processed, and if it isn’t done, there better be a good reason,” said Mike Hassinger, spokesman for Georgia Secretary of State Brad. Raffensperger said before the vote.
If an entire board refuses to certify due to conspiracy theories, Hassinger said, “they will face serious consequences.”
In other states where counties refused to certify, this is exactly what happened. In Arizona, two Cochise County supervisors face criminal charges for delaying the certification of 2022 election results.
In New Mexico, Otero County officials raised conspiracy theories about Dominion voting machines when they initially refused to certify election results, before being later ordered by a state court to certify the results. A county commissioner later changed his vote, fearing criminal prosecution and prison time. The move nearly disenfranchised an entire county, New Mexico’s secretary of state told NBC News at the time.
Voting rights advocates and opponents of the change argued in written and spoken testimony, broadcast during a 9-hour meeting of the State Board of Elections on Tuesday, that Georgia state law does not support such a change. They discussed that the law sets strict requirements for local officials and that “reasonable inquiry” gives those officials enormous leeway.
“Georgia has 159 counties. What is reasonable for board members in one county may not be reasonable for board members in another county, or individual board members from the same county may disagree about what is reasonable,” said Nikhel Sus , lawyer for the left-leaning party. watchdog group Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics.
But after nine hours of debate, the three members Trump celebrated on Saturday voted in favor of the change. The Board’s only Democrat, Sara Tindall Ghazal, and Board President John Fervier, appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp, voted against the rule. Fervier said he supported the idea of an inquiry, but not without “protections”.
This story originally appeared on NBCNews.com read the full story
