Democrats sue over new election rules in battleground Georgia

ATLANTA — The Democratic National Committee, the Democratic Party of Georgia and several individuals, including county board members, sued the Georgia State Election Board on Monday over new election rules that critics say conflict with state law mandating certification of election results.

At the heart of the civil suit, filed in Fulton County, are two items the election board passed this month: the reasonable inquiry rule and the examination rule.

The suit says that the rules conflict with Georgia’s statutes governing certification and that the election board did not follow procedures for rulemaking as required by state law. It therefore asks the court to pause the two rules to the extent that they conflict with existing law.

The plaintiffs are also asking for a declaration that election results must be certified by Georgia’s statutory deadline of Nov. 12 and that certification is mandatory rather than discretionary.

Democratic state representatives asked Republican Gov. Brian Kemp on Monday to remove the three GOP board members who approved the new rules, saying they acted outside the scope of the board’s authority when they approved the measures.

The election board is chaired by a Republican, and it also consists of three Republicans whom former President Donald Trump has praised as his “pit bulls” for “victory,” in addition to one Democrat.

“They’re on fire. They’re doing a great job,” Trump said at the rally of the three Republicans who voted for the new powers. “Janice Johnston, Rick Jeffares and Janelle King, three people are all pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory.”

The rules would allow county election board members to conduct “reasonable” inquiries before they certify results. Critics say