Newsletter: Scrutiny over Georgia Election Board

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The nation’s eyes have been on the Georgia State Election Board, which this week met and advanced several anti-democratic measures pushed by its far-right, Trump-allied majority.

The meeting took place a week after the SEB withdrew two controversial rule changes from its illegal July 12 meeting, following American Oversight’s lawsuit.

Of particular concern is a new rule, approved by a 3-2 vote, that allows local election officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry that … the results are a true and accurate accounting of all votes cast in that election” — thus providing them the power to delay or even refuse to certify their county’s results.
The SEB’s composition has changed drastically in the last few years, with a new majority that is aligned with the former president’s political goals. At a rally last weekend, Trump praised his allies on the board — Janice Johnston, Rick Jeffares, and Janelle King — for “fighting for honesty, transparency, and victory.”

The SEB also approved sending all counties a sign that states “U.S. CITIZENS ONLY,” urging officials to display them at polling locations.

“These signs aren’t just unnecessary,” American Oversight told the Atlanta Journal-Constitution, “they also contribute to the harmful rhetoric that has a chilling effect on legal voting among immigrants and can lead to violence.”
“It is becoming clearer every day that the anti-democratic election denial movement’s goal is to foment chaos this November, including by harnessing racist and xenophobic anti-immigrant sentiment to undermine faith in our elections,”

Johnston, Jeffares, and King were the board members who convened the illegal meeting on July 12, which was held without proper notice or a quorum.

One of the rules advanced at that meeting aims to increase the number of partisan poll monitors observing ballot counting at Georgia tabulation centers, which could increase the likelihood of election worker intimidation and potentially give poll watchers access to personal voter information.
The other rule would require county election boards to post daily online ballot counts on their websites, a practice already conducted by the secretary of state’s office.
Public reporting revealed that the second rule had been provided to Jeffares by Georgia GOP Chair Josh McKoon in apparent coordination with the Republican National Committee; a similar version of the other rule had also been shared by the state GOP.

The SEB withdrew its two illegally promulgated rules last week after American Oversight’s lawsuit, and reintroduced them during this week’s properly noticed meeting, with both advancing for rulemaking.

“It comes as no surprise that, given the former president’s praise for their efforts, three Trump-allied board members have pushed through controversial rule changes less than 100 days before what is certain to be a hotly contested election,” American Oversight’s interim Executive Director Chioma Chukwu said.
“Instead of protecting the right of all Georgians to safely cast their ballots,”she added, “the board’s anti-democratic majority has aligned itself with the election denial movement to advance partisan rules designed to cause confusion on Election Day, delay the certification of votes, and benefit one candidate in November. This should alarm all Americans, not just Georgia voters.”

Louisiana Resident Public Records Law Goes Into Effect

A Louisiana law that went into effect on Aug. 1 allows only state residents to request public records from the governor’s office, a blow to transparency that “flies in the face of open government,” American Oversight said in a statement to the Times-Picayune.

HB 767 took effect after months of debate in the state legislature.
American Oversight urged Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry to reject the bill in a statement issued earlier this year:
“Transparency in Louisiana seems to be on the chopping block this year, with the state legislature making it easier for government officials to operate in the dark and more challenging for the public to obtain records aimed at exposing nefarious outside influences working within and across state lines,” Chukwu said in June.

In recent months, Landry has cited public records exemptions that do not exist in Louisiana law to withhold public records, the Times-Picayune’s Andrea Gallo reported.

“A review of Landry’s first five months as governor shows that in nearly a quarter of all public-records requests his office fielded, his attorneys withheld records by citing deliberative process or executive privilege,” Gallo wrote.
American Oversight has filed multiple public records requests seeking the release of communications from Landry’s office.

On the Records

Missouri SOS’s Close Relationship with Election Denial Group

Records we previously published and wrote about were reported on by Heartland Signal last week. They show that Missouri Secretary of State Jay Ashcroft received emails from the prominent election denial group Verity Vote urging him to withdraw from the Electronic Registration Information Center (ERIC).

A February 2023 email to Ashcroft from someone who appears to be connected to Verity Vote said: “We believe … states who champion [leaving ERIC] will have better results” than those that try to reform the nonpartisan voter-roll maintenance system.
Records we obtained also suggest Ashcroft met with the group.

Ashcroft announced Missouri’s withdrawal from ERIC in March 2023, part of a multi-state exodus that was fueled by a misinformation campaign by the election denial movement.

In January, Missouri Auditor Scott Fitzpatrick released an audit report of Ashcroft’s office, which the withdrawal from ERIC without a suitable alternative in place.

Arizona Election Interference Cases

In April, Arizona’s 11 fake electors and seven Trump allies were indicted on felony charges for their effort to overturn the 2020 election in the state. This week, Jenna Ellis — a pro-Trump attorney — agreed to cooperate with prosecutors in exchange for the dismissal of her charges, and Lorraine Pellegrino, one of the fake electors, agreed to a plea deal.

We’ve uncovered documents related to Jenna Ellis’ involvement in the effort to keep Trump in power, the fake electors scheme, and the larger effort to undermine faith in Arizona’s election results.
Christina Bobb, a former Trump attorney and conservative TV presenter who is now the RNC’s senior counsel for election integrity, was also indicted. We’ve uncovered records that shed light on Bobb’s efforts to undermine the results of the 2020 election.
The April indictment noted that some fake electors tried to convince Vice President Pence to delay certifying the election. We obtained a December 2020 letter from then-recently elected state Sen. Kelly Townsend asking Pence to “not accept” Arizona’s valid electors during the Jan. 6 congressional certification.

Newsletter: Scrutiny over Georgia Election Board

Louisiana Resident Public Records Law Goes Into Effect

On the Records

Missouri SOS’s Close Relationship with Election Denial Group

Arizona Election Interference Cases

Other Stories We’re Following

Election Denial and Threats to Democracy

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In the States

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