John,

Earlier this month, we told you that the Georgia State Election Board pushed through two rules, one of which allows election officials in Georgia’s 159 counties to arbitrarily interfere with election certification.

Now, they’re taking it further: the Georgia State Election Board has proposed 11 new rules and amendments which, if passed, could likely disrupt the upcoming election’s administration and undermine voter confidence.

That’s why CREW joined the ACLU of Georgia and Public Rights Project in filing a comment objecting to their new rules.

John, Georgia has already passed rules to expand their role and allow interference in the results of elections they don’t like. We want to make sure they don’t bring chaos and confusion to the upcoming elections with even more rules.

I’ll explain more below, but I want to make one thing quite clear: CREW is dedicated to protecting the certification of the 2024 election. So we’re going to ask if you can support our efforts to defend our elections with a donation today →

There has been a lot of rule-changing coming out of Georgia, so let’s clear things up and lay out the facts:

Over the last few months, the Georgia State Election Board has been pushing through rules cementing election lies into policy.

The Georgia State Election Board ignored 125 years of legal precedents when it adopted two new rules that would invite election certification disruptions:

One rule allows election officials in Georgia’s 159 counties to arbitrarily investigate the process before certifying election results. The second rule allows county board members to examine “all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections prior to certification of results.”

The problem? Georgia law is clear: neither individual members of county election boards nor the full boards have unconditional access to election documents prior to election certification. That’s why we formally objected to these rules – and we weren’t the only ones.

We found that public comments received by the Georgia State Election Board in response to the rule overwhelmingly opposed the rule change. More than 250 concerned citizens and organizations voiced their opposition out of the nearly 300 comments about the rule.

John, these new rules invite abuse and could impose unreasonable burdens on Georgia election workers in the hectic six-day period between election day and certification.

Now, Georgia is trying to take it another step further – and time is of the essence.

If the rules are adopted at the Board’s meeting today, under Georgia law, the earliest they can take effect is October 10th. That is just five days before early voting begins in Georgia and 21 days before election day.

By this time, election administrators will have already sent out overseas and military ballots. This timeline makes it difficult, if not impossible, for some of these rules to be implemented.

The Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials, an organization of election officials, who will bear the brunt of these changes, has expressed concern that these new rules would create confusion and could lead to errors or delays in voting.

Along with ACLU of Georgia and Public Rights Project, we echoed these concerns, writing in our letter that the Board “cannot bury its head in the sand — it has a legal duty to meaningfully consider public comments about the real-world effects of its actions.”

Now is the time to ensure the smooth operation of Georgia’s elections and strengthen voter trust and confidence. But instead, what’s happening in Georgia is part of an alarming trend across the country where country election officials are trying to expand their role and overturn the results of elections they don’t like.

Election deniers are laying the groundwork to delay certification, and we won’t stand by as they fight to undermine our democracy. CREW is going to take action to ensure we keep our elections safe and secure. If you can get behind our work, then please make a donation to CREW today →

Thanks for your support,

Donald Sherman
Executive Director
CREW