Thanks to Democrats’ latest intimidation tactics, Georgia Board of Registration and Elections (BRE) members are stuck between a rock and a hard place. Under Georgia law, BRE members are given superintendent power to review election procedures as well as the duty to ensure those procedures are followed.
Yet, if Election Day comes and there are known issues with chain of custody, important documentation is withheld, or various statutorily required election procedures were violated and not addressed, BRE members face undue pressure to certify the election anyway.
According to the reasoning of liberal groups, it does not matter that the Georgia election code states that BRE members have a duty to “inspect systematically and thoroughly” the conduct of elections “to the end that primaries and elections may be honestly, efficiently and uniformly conducted.” They must still certify or face legal consequences.
Fortunately, a rule proposal has been submitted to the Georgia State Election Board (SEB) that would further cement the role of certification by providing clearer order and stating that certification must occur “in the manner required by the chapter.” Although the context of the election code is already clear, adopting the proposed rule would help resolve any conflict in understanding by referencing the whole chapter and pointing out that certification is part of a process, not a standalone one-and-done.
The role of certification has gained more attention in recent reporting, with both local and national outlets aggressively suggesting that BRE members’ role in certification is ceremonial. When BRE members
