GA Board Confirms Right To Investigate Before Certifying Elections

The Georgia State Election Board (SEB) ruled in a 3-2 vote Tuesday that county election board members are entitled to a “reasonable inquiry” into election discrepancies before certifying the results of an election.

The rule, based on the Election Assistance Commission’s definition, clarifies that county election boards’ responsibility to certify an election allows them to do so “after reasonable inquiry that the tabulation and canvassing of the election are complete and accurate and that the results are a true and accurate accounting of all votes cast in that election.”

Members Janice Johnston, Rick Jeffares, and Janelle King voted in favor of the rule. Chairman John Fervier, who was appointed chairman by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, voted in opposition to the rule alongside Democrat Sara Tindall Ghazal.

“I think by supporting this rule what we’re saying is that we stand with those who have to sign legal documents stating that their information is accurate and ensuring they have what’s necessary to stand by that legal document,” King said during the hearing.

It’s a similar sentiment expressed by Gwinnett County election board member David Hancock. Hancock had requested to see “documents” during the presidential preference primary and said Gwinnett County informed him he had to file an Open Records Request in order to see such documents. Hancock says he received the documents after certification. Hancock says the county provided him with the documents he asked for during the May general primary but during the general runoff primary in June, Hancock says the county forced him to pay a fee for his second Open Records Request.

“I had no choice but to pay the fee,” Hancock told The Federalist. “Most people, me included, feel that it is insane that a Board of Election member has to pay to view election documents to be used in the course of my duties.”

Hancock said based on the new rule, having access to “all documents will really help me determine whether the vote totals are reasonable and whether any errors with the supporting documents is due to simple human error and most likely will not affect the vote totals or whether it appears that fraud was committed.”

Johnston, during the hearing, said giving board members access to materials will help them “review and canvass and certify” the election.

“If a board was nothing more than an entity that a person just presented the numbers to the board to rubber stamp, then I would say an election like that is no better than an election in Venezuela or Russia,” Johnston added. “It is your duty to review and canvass and certify what you’re presented.”

Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said in a post on X on Wednesday morning that “Georgia’s Election Integrity Act requires counties to certify the election results by November 12th and we fully anticipate that counties will follow the law.”

The rule was proposed by Fulton County election board vice chair Michael Heekin, who did vote to certify the presidential primary race in March.

Fellow board member Julie Adams ultimately did not vote to certify the election after her request for election-related materials was denied.

Five days before Georgia’s March 12 presidential primary, Adams requested election-related documents she said she needed to fulfill her duties before certifying an election, according to a complaint she filed with the Superior Court of Fulton County. Election Director Nadine Williams told Adams that most of the requested documentation would not be available until after the election itself but that “review of these documents is not required for certification,” according to the complaint.

In Tuesday’s meeting, Johnston said she believes that the “board of elections should be able to see every single election document in the office.”

On March 19, having not received any of the requested documentation, Adams voted not to certify the results of the election. Ten days later, the Democratic Party of Georgia sent a letter to each member of the Fulton County elections board, stating certification is a purely “ministerial” task and suggesting that refusing to certify an election could be punished by criminal charges.

To call election certification a “ministerial” task is to say that board members must rubber-stamp the results of an election no matter what concerns they have about its administration. But the Georgia State Elections Board’s ruling on Tuesday reflected an understanding of the role as a discretionary one, meaning members are elected to evaluate an election, to certify its results when they are confident it was administered lawfully, and to withhold certification when they are not.

Mark Davis, the president of Data Productions Inc. and an election data expert, told The Federalist he supports the rule.

“No board member should have to struggle for access to records they want to see to feel comfortable signing their name to certify an election — or even worse, be forced to file and pay for an Open Records Request with the county they serve for records available by law to the public,” Davis said.