Democratic Party sues Georgia State Election Board over rules to 'prevent chaos'

The Georgia State Election Board was sued Monday by several election officials and Democrats over recent rules passed by three Trump-approved board members.

The plaintiffs want to make sure the new rules don't prevent the November election results from being certified on time.

The two rules at issue require election officials to conduct a "reasonable inquiry" into the accuracy of results before certifying them, and to allow individual members of county election boards to look at "election related documentation created during the conduct of elections.”

The Georgia county election officials and Democrats who are suing acknowledged that the rules, on their face, appear to respect certification deadlines because they only allow a "reasonable inquiry" or "examinations" that wouldn't push certification past the legal deadline.

However, the rules could still delay certification by giving officials license to hunt for any kind of election irregularity, according to the lawsuit.

"At minimum, these novel requirements introduce substantial uncertainty in the post-election process and—if interpreted as their drafters have suggested—invite chaos by establishing new processes at odds with existing statutory duties," the plaintiffs said.

The five members of the Georgia State Election Board didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on the lawsuit. In comments provided earlier, member Janelle King, who is one of the three to back the new rules, told USA TODAY no approved rules would allow county officials to violate state law by delaying certification.

"In fact it works in the reverse. Ensuring that every County election board member has access to all election-related documentation actually strengthens the certification process," said King, who is the former deputy state director for the Georgia Republican Party.

Former President Donald Trump praised King and the other two members who ultimately backed the rules – Dr. Janice Johnston and Rick Jaffares – by name at a campaign rally Aug. 3, describing them as "pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory."

Republican board members face calls to resign

Also on Monday, Democratic lawmakers from Georgia called for the three members praised by Trump to resign at a press conference, local Atlanta news channel Fox 5 reported.

Georgia state Senator Nabilah Islam Parkes said the integrity of the state's electoral process "is under serious threat," while U.S. Rep. Lucy McBath said failing to protect democracy could mean "falling into chaos."

In response to ethics complaints against the board, Republican Gov. Brian Kemp’s office released a letter saying, “This office has received Senator Nabilah Islam Parkes and other’s letters alleging ethics violations by members of the State Elections Board. Due to uncertainty regarding whether this office has authority to act under Code Section 45-10-4 in response to these complaints, we have sought the Attorney General’s advice regarding the application of the statute to the letters. We will respond following receipt of this advice and further evaluation of the letters.” Kemp refused Trump's requests for help overturning the 2020 election in Georgia.

King told the local outlet that she joined the board "to do the right thing" and she doesn't have any partisan allegiance. "Before I agree to do anything, I ask all the right questions, I talk to attorneys, I make sure that I'm walking within the steps of the law."

In the lawsuit, the plaintiffs noted that many Georgia county election officials have objected to certifying elections since 2020, including one county official as recently as March of this year.

They are asking the Fulton County Superior Court "to prevent chaos in November" by making clear – through what's known as a "declaratory judgment" – that the state deadlines for certifying the results are mandatory, and the new rules don't change that.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Swing state election board sued by Democrats over alleged power grab