The Georgia State Election Board is considering an amendment to Rule 183–1–12-.12 that would identify relevant documents which local elections officials may review during the certification process. In addition to this, the proposal preserves the mandatory, nondiscretionary nature of election certification in Georgia.
This list of documents – all of which are related to election results themselves – curbs the potential for disorder that other proposals would cause in the state’s election administration process in several ways. Specifically, it could reduce the threat of interference with certification, protect certification from inappropriate investigation, and prevent rogue local officials from disrupting certification as they’ve historically done. In addition to this, the amendment’s approach avoids pitfalls of other proposed amendments by not inviting discretionary refusals and not burdening local certifying officials with additional investigatory demands during certification.
The comment was submitted by the Brennan Center for Justice at NYU Law and United to Protect Democracy and describes how the proposal limits the potential for disorder that other proposals concerning certification would have on the state’s election administration process.
