GOP-controlled election board in Georgia passes rule that could further delay certification

CNN —

The Georgia State Election Board passed a rule Monday giving local election officials additional power to investigate ballot counts before certifying the results, a move critics say could inject chaos into the 2024 election and delay the state’s official vote count.

The “Rule for Reconciliation Prior to Certification” will allow for a hand recount of votes to ensure “the total number of ballots cast” does not exceed “the total number of persons who voted,” according to the language of the rule.

County election officials will now be allowed to investigate any possible discrepancies.

The vote was carried 3 to 2 by the five-member board.

The proposal was submitted by Salleigh Grubbs, the chair of the Cobb County Republicans, who told CNN she believes her county’s 2020 presidential election results were inaccurate without any providing any direct evidence for her claims. She denies that the rule is about trying to delay certification of the 2024 results.

“[W]e have to have assurance, as Georgians, that what we see printed on our ballot is exactly how the balance and the only way to do that is by a handwritten affiliation on the precinct level,” Grubbs said in support of the rule, during the public comment portion of the hearing.

The rule would provide a guardrail to ensure that for each one person there will only be one vote, Grubbs said.

The rule change comes amid intense scrutiny of three Republican state election board members whom critics believe are making it easier to contest the election results if former President Donald Trump once again comes up short in Georgia.

The board’s sole Democratic appointee, Sarah Tindall Ghazal, and the board’s chairman, John Fervier, voted against the rule change.