The Republican secretary of state of a swing state ripped a MAGA-backed election change as causing last-minute “chaos” before November’s election.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a vocal Trump critic, criticized a change being proposed by former President Donald Trump‘s allies in Georgia as “misguided.”
The new rule, which was advanced by the Republican-controlled State Election Board last month, would require three separate poll workers to hand-count ballots on election night to make sure they match the results from voting machines. The board is set to vote on whether to adopt it on Monday.
“Georgia voters reject this 11th hour chaos, and so should the unelected members of the State Election Board,” Raffensperger said in a Friday news release.
He continued, “Activists seeking to impose last-minute changes in election procedures outside of the legislative process undermine voter confidence and burden election workers.”
Georgia’s election board is made up of three Republicans—Janice Johnston, Rick Jeffares and Janelle King—and two Democrats—Sara Tindall Ghazal and John Fervier.
The change that Raffensperger took issue with is part of a series proposed by the board. Last week, the board voted to adopt another change that expands county election boards’ powers to investigate election results before certifying. The conservative board members who voted to back the measure were praised by Trump “pitbulls fighting for honesty, transparency, and victory.”
Without criticizing the proponents of the proposals by name, Raffensperger slammed the influence of “unelected bureaucrats who have never run an election” for the pending rule change. The secretary of state warned that the changes could “cause serious problems in an election that otherwise will be secure and accurate.”
Cobb County Republican Party Chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs, who sought last month’s vote on the hand-counting proposal, said, “We must make every effort to ensure every vote is counted right the first time. I don’t understand why we don’t want more security in our procedures.”
Raffensperger’s office praised the state’s election system on Friday, calling Georgia “a national leader in elections” and noting it was the first state to implement no-excuse absentee voting.
“Georgia continues to set records for voter turnout and election participation, seeing the largest increase in average turnout of any other state in the 2018 midterm election and record turnout in 2020, and 2022. 2022 achieved the largest single day of in-person early voting turnout in Georgia midterm history utilizing Georgia’s secure, paper ballot voting system,” his office said.
Charles S. Bullock, professor of public and international affairs at the University of Georgia, previously told Newsweek that these changes “could delay certification of elections.”
“Some Republicans might think that by causing delays, they could push the process beyond the deadline for appointing presidential electors, which could prevent a Democrat who won Georgia from officially securing the victory,” Bullock said. “However, this scenario appears to be unlikely or impossible based on the court’s decision.”
Georgia will be a closely watched state in November. President Joe Biden flipped Georgia in 2020 by a slim margin of 11,779 votes. It marked the first time a Republican presidential candidate has lost the Peach State in decades.
A new poll released Wednesday by the Cook Political Report found Trump tied with Vice President Harris at 46 percent in Georgia. It shows improvement for Democrats, who trailed Biden by 4 percentage points in Cook’s May survey when Biden was still the party’s nominee.
The New York Times‘ election tracker shows Trump with a 2-point lead over Harris, while FiveThirtyEight has Trump with a narrower advantage of 1 point.
A poll worker on November 3, 2020 in Atlanta, Georgia. Georgia’s secretary of state is warning against proposed rule changes that would require three poll workers to recount ballots before certifying the results of a voting machine.
Jessica McGowan/Getty Images
