After trying to block the Georgia State Election Board (SEB) from ensuring precincts match physical ballot counts with machine counts, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office declined to provide training on the SEB’s rule until a court rules on the matter.
Blake Evans, the election director for the secretary of state, sent guidance to county election officials indicating the state will not bother providing “additional training … until after any court decisions are made,” according to a document obtained by The Federalist.
“Our office is continuing to review recent rule amendments voted on by the State Election Board (SEB) at their meetings on September 20th and 23rd, which are not yet effective. One of those amendments would change SEB Rule 183-1-12-.12(a)(5) to require hand counting of paper ballots after polls close on election night,” the guidance states.
“As you may be aware, there are pending court challenges to the legality of these rules, and hearings have been scheduled in these cases for this week,” the guidance continues. “The Attorney General’s office wrote in a memo to the SEB that the proposed rule amendment was ‘not tethered to any statute — and [is] therefore, likely the precise type of impermissible legislation that agencies cannot do.’”
“Because the SEB rules are tied up in litigation, and because poll worker training in many counties has already started and there is limited time remaining for additional training, the SOS Elections Division does not intend to provide additional training on SEB rules until after any
