Even Republicans are ringing alarm bells about the last-minute changes Georgia’s State Election Board is making to election procedures in the state. Despite a multiple challenges to the new rules — which could sow chaos in the election — many are doubtful that any action will be taken to clarify the state’s rules before Election Day.

Earlier this week, a group of Republican and independent attorneys and interested parties penned a letter to Governor Brian Kemp, Attorney General Christopher Carr and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger expressing concern about the recent rulemaking of Georgia’s State Elections Board.

The board is an unelected five-member body charged with ensuring “the fair, legal, and orderly” administration of elections across Georgia as well as keeping uniform electoral procedures across the state’s 159 counties. This year, however, a three-member pro-Trump majority consisting of Rick Jeffares, Janice Johnston and Janelle King, passed a spate of new election rules that even has Republicans concerned.

The two rules that have raised the most eyebrows are the “reasonable inquiry” rule, passed in August, and a hand-count rule passed last week. The first rule allows county election officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” — an undefined term — before certifying the results of an election. This rule appears to defy state law, which says county officials “shall” certify the vote.

The second rule requires three separate election workers to hand count the total number of paper ballots in each of Georgia’s 2,400 precincts, which counted some 5 million votes in 2020. They also require the poll workers to sort the ballots into stacks of 50 for the purposes of the hand count.

Related

In the eyes of the 16 signatories of the letter, the hand-count rule “risks delaying certification, which could prevent Georgia from certifying election returns by December 11, 2024.” In an earlier letter, the group of conservatives concluded that “No reasonable observer could conclude that these three people are upholding that duty, according to the complaints,” noting that former President........

© Salon