In the run-up to last year’s presidential election, investigations of fraud and errors took a back seat to the State Election Board’s failed efforts to change Georgia election rules.
Instead of focusing on election complaints, the board’s Republican majority spent much of its time passing new rules, according to a review of meeting minutes by The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. The Georgia Supreme Court recently rejected the board’s rules that would have required hand counts of ballots and inquiries before certifying results.
The State Election Board’s inaction on investigations created a backlog, delaying decisions on claims of illegal activities such as double voting, absentee ballot fraud and campaigning near polling places. A total of 315 cases have already been investigated and are awaiting a decision from the board, according to the secretary of state’s office.
“There should be consequences for wrongdoing. It’s an election integrity issue if people aren’t facing consequences,” said Charlene McGowan, general counsel for the secretary of state’s office, which conducted the investigations. “The board had a significant number of meetings last year, but most of them were to take up petitions and rulemaking as opposed to hearing cases.”
Most complaints considered by the board involve routine errors by poll workers or voters, though some cases found intentional misconduct, such as individuals registering in two states or attempting to register to vote with a false name. Allegations of widespread election fraud have never been proved.
The board heard fewer investigations last year than in any other year since 2020, the AJC’s review shows.
The board considered 115 investigations in 2024, a sharp decline from the 527 cases taken up in 2021 after a surge in allegations following the 2020 presidential election.
After hearing cases, the board decides whether to refer them to prosecutors, seek penalties through the attorney general’s office, send letters of reprimand or instruction, or dismiss them.
The board held meetings on 13 days last year but handled investigations on just five of those days. The rest were dedicated to items such as creating rules, debating a resolution opposing no-excuse absentee voting and executive sessions to discuss litigation.
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Much of the time spent on election rules amounted to nothing. The Georgia Supreme Court unanimously ruled in June that the board can’t create new voting policies without the support of laws approved by the General Assembly.
The board could have used its time better on investigations than on the 32 proposed rules it considered, said Chairman John Fervier, who opposed many of the changes.
“The backlog is a result of what happened last year, when this board got deterred for a number of reasons. We spent the vast majority of our time dealing with rules and arguing over those kinds of things as opposed to hearing cases,” said Fervier, who was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp. “We’ve made some dramatic progress this year, and I expect by the end of December, we’ll be back on track.”
Through the first seven months of this year, the board has already taken up 170 cases, more than it did all last year.
Janice Johnston, one of the board members who supported the rule changes, said investigators had time to present cases during regularly scheduled meetings. Special meetings were held to deal with rule proposals, she said.
Johnston said she wants pending allegations of election misbehavior resolved by the board.
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
Credit: abbey.cutrer@ajc.com
“Cases are investigated better and more thoroughly when they’re investigated in a shorter period of time,” said Johnston, who was appointed to the board by the Georgia Republican Party. “When you have a very old complaint, you don’t have documents and you oftentimes lose the memories of the people who were involved.”
She said part of the backlog can be attributed to the low number of cases brought to the board for final resolution by the attorney general’s office, often resulting in a fine or reprimand letter. The attorney general’s office presented just four cases last year; the remaining 111 cases came from investigators in the secretary of state’s office.
Cases are brought to the board only after a thorough review of investigative files, said Kara Murray, a spokeswoman for the attorney general’s office.
About 100 cases from the attorney general’s office are awaiting presentation to the board, and another 80 matters are still being reviewed.
Now that the election is over and the board isn’t dedicating time to changing voting rules, investigations are a priority again. The board went through 58 cases on last month’s agenda.
“We’ve had these cases hanging out there for years,” said Gwinnett County Elections Supervisor Zach Manifold during a break in last month’s meeting. “I’m happy to see them clear the deck.”
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