ATLANTA — A rule proposed by the State Election Board could allow a single county commission member to request access to election documents before certifying an election.
The newly proposed rules have sparked debate over the credibility and integrity of Georgia’s election system.
Under the new proposal, county commission members would be able to see all documents related to elections.
Opponents argue that election certification should be a simple process and that it is not the county commission’s responsibility to investigate potential problems.
State Election Commission Chairman John Favier and Cobb County Republican Sally Grubbs expressed differing opinions on the proposal.
“It’s going to be difficult because we can’t approve both yours and mine, so we’ll just have to fight,” Ferbier said.
Grubbs said his proposal would provide needed transparency.
Related article:
“If we’re not allowed to receive the documents after the election but before they’re certified, then we’re being asked to certify something that we can’t certify because we don’t have all the information we need to certify it,” she said.
Sarah Tyndall Ghazal, the only Democrat on the state Board of Elections, opposed the proposal.
She emphasized that the role of county election board members is to certify vote totals and send any concerns to the Secretary of State’s office for investigation.
“They’re certifying the vote count. That’s what certification is. There are policies and procedures for post-mortem investigations,” Ghazal said.
The board voted 3-1 in favor of moving forward with the proposal, which will be heard from the public for a month before the board votes again at its August meeting.
related news:
This browser does not support the video element.
