The Georgia state elections board is making changes to its voter certification process, and the Republican National Committee is in full support.
On Monday, the Georgia board approved a new rule by a 3-2 vote to allow local officials to investigate vote totals after Election Day, opening the door for new obstacles in certifying election results. Now, any member on a county’s board of elections can “examine all election related documentation created during the conduct of elections prior to certification of results,” which could create chaos after an election.
The Republican National Committee’s co-chair, Michael Whatley, praised the measure in a statement, saying, “These steps by the State Election board are critical to securing the election in Georgia and correcting its long history of chaos.”
Three Republicans on the board have been praised by Donald Trump, who lost the state in 2020 and famously told Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to “find” him 11,780 votes to overturn the results. Those same three members were hit with an ethics complaint last week by a former chair of the Fulton County Board of Elections, Cathy Woolard, who accused them of breaking the law in their efforts to help Trump disrupt the coming election.
Since 2020, Georgia has had the highest number of certification refusals anywhere in the country—and remains the likely epicenter for Trump’s claims of election fraud in 2024. Trump still faces charges for allegedly trying to overturn his 2020 election results in the state, but the case is currently in limbo over efforts to oust Fulton County prosecutor Fani Willis.
The RNC is totally under Trump’s control, having backed Whatley and his daughter-in-law Lara Trump to serve as the committee’s co-chairs. The RNC’s support of Georgia’s new rule means that the former president and convicted felon is also applauding the move.
The RNC is sparing no effort to lock up Georgia in the GOP’s favor, also backing the state’s Republicans in a federal lawsuit over the alleged removal of nearly 1,000 voters from the rolls. With elections less than three months away, Democrats should be keeping a close eye on the GOP’s legally questionable efforts in Georgia.
