News
July 19, 2024

American Oversight Sues Georgia State Election Board for Violating Open Meetings Act

The board’s July 12 meeting — in which it pushed forward controversial new election rules — was held without either proper notice or a quorum.

Nonpartisan watchdog organization American Oversight filed a lawsuit today against the Georgia State Election Board (SEB) for violating the state’s Open Meetings Act after it held a meeting last Friday without legally required public notice or a quorum. 

Statement from American Oversight Interim Executive Director Chioma Chukwu: 

“Three members of the State Election Board rammed through a last-minute meeting to consider controversial rule changes without adequately notifying the public. Georgia’s Open Meetings Act and others like it are vital to a functioning democracy by helping ensure official actions are conducted in full view of the public. Attempts to maneuver around it to advance changes to Georgia’s election rules are a clear violation of this law — both in principle and in practice. Any proposals voted upon during this meeting are null and void, and we ask the court to prevent them from moving ahead with the proposed rules and to declare their actions at last week’s meeting invalid.”

American Oversight’s lawsuit, filed in Fulton County Superior Court, seeks preliminary injunctive and declaratory relief and civil penalties against the three board members who convened the illegal meeting for a knowing and willful violation of the Open Meetings Act. American Oversight will be represented in court by its own attorneys and by Atlanta-based law firm Caplan Cobb, LLC.

American Oversight plans to file a motion for a preliminary injunction shortly after the complaint is docketed. 

According to reports, during the illegal July 12 meeting convened by board members Rick Jeffares, Janelle King, and Janice Johnston, the SEB considered two proposals, including one proposed by Jeffares requiring counties to post certain election results that the Secretary of State’s office already provides, which was not previously announced or shared with the public, nor read in its entirety at the meeting itself. 

Earlier this week, American Oversight sent a letter to SEB Chair John Fervier and all board members alerting them that American Oversight and partners in Georgia may pursue legal action if the SEB did not publicly clarify by Wednesday, July 17, that the sham meeting violated Georgia law and that the rules it purported to approve are null and void.

Reporting indicates that board members were aware of the potential legal issues that could arise if they held Friday’s meeting. Prior to the meeting, the state attorney general’s office reportedly warned the members that convening the meeting might violate the state’s Open Meetings Act. 

After a regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, July 9, ran long, Fervier scheduled a continuation for the next day. That meeting was eventually postponed after the board failed to meet its in-person quorum requirements. Notices of the rescheduled meeting, as well as the postponement, were circulated to the secretary of state’s “[email protected]” email list, consistent with typical practice.

But late on Thursday, July 11, a document signed by Jeffares and posted outside a meeting room in the Georgia State Capitol announced that a meeting would be held on July 12 at 4 p.m., despite indication from Fervier and Sara Tindall Ghazal, the other two SEB members, that they would be unavailable.     

This document was not shared to the secretary of state’s email list, nor was it posted to the SEB’s website, where meeting notices are usually posted. 

Additionally, of the three board members who convened the July 12 meeting, two were present in person and the third participated by video, in violation of the Open Meetings Act quorum requirements.

A copy of the complaint is available here.