Republicans join legal challenge of State Election Board

ATLANTA – The Republican-controlled State Election Board is now being challenged from both sides of the aisle.

A Georgia-based advocacy group headed by former Republican state Rep. Scot Turner filed suit in Fulton County Wednesday seeking to block rules changes three of the five board members approved in recent weeks allowing local election officials to delay certification of election results if they suspect fraud.

The lawsuit, filed by Eternal Vigilance Action, argues the board violated a state law requiring mandatory certification of election results at the local level, overstepping its legal authority.

“Georgia’s laws written and approved by elected legislators and signed by a governor spell out how to conduct our election, and our state constitution does not allow rules promulgated by unelected appointees on the State Election Board to supersede our laws,” said Turner, the group’s president and CEO.

“With this lawsuit, we look to reestablish the proper role of the State Election Board to promote consistency, accuracy and proper access across 159 different county election boards, but on a broader scale, we’re looking to affirm the separation of powers required by the state constitution. The legislative branch writes the rules; the executive branch carries them out as written.”

Turner is listed separately as a plaintiff in the suit, along with his group and James Hall, an election board member in Chatham County.

The Republican lawsuit comes after a suit the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of Georgia filed late last month posing similar arguments. The Democratic suit accuses the three board members of laying the groundwork for delays in certification of election results that could help former President Donald Trump capture Georgia’s 16 electoral votes even if he doesn’t prevail at the ballot box.

The three board members have defended their votes as striking a blow for election integrity.

This story comes to GPB through a reporting partnership with Capitol Beat News Service.