The Georgia Election Board is considering changes to voting rules and the appointment of election monitors for Fulton County as the presidential race heats up.
The board will review nine proposed rules Tuesday — most of them sought by Republican voters and party officials — such as standards for verification of vote counts, absentee ballot mail tracking and election certification.
With a 4-1 Republican majority, including new board member and conservative media pundit Janelle King, the State Election Board could vote to move forward with the rule proposals or scuttle them four months before Election Day. Rules couldn’t be finalized until next month.
The board also might revisit its reprimand of Fulton County for double-scanning ballots during the recount of the 2020 presidential race.
The board in May called for a team of monitors to ensure that Fulton County, which includes the heavily Democratic core of Atlanta, follows all state election laws and regulations.
Both conservative and liberal election observers are being considered for the observation team, which would review election preparation, absentee ballot processing, tabulation, certification and audits. The board voted unanimously last year against a state takeover of Fulton’s election management.
The monitor team must be approved by the State Election Board, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and the Fulton election board, and Fulton would be responsible for its roughly $100,000 cost.
If Fulton doesn’t hire election monitors, State Election Board members have said they would seek more serious consequences than a reprimand.
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