Pro-Trump Election Officials Disrupt Voting Process in Key State

Donald Trump’s allies on the Georgia State Election Board voted 3–2 Friday to require the state’s counties to count all election ballots by hand, which would considerably delay the results and cast doubt on the process.

The move comes thanks to the pro-Trump majority on the board, which has taken several steps in the hopes of helping the former president win the state in November. The three board members have sought to make it easier for county election officials to reject election results, and have had an ethics complaint lodged against them for trying to make significant changes to the rules governing Georgia’s elections.

The Georgia Attorney General’s Office warned Thursday that the rule changes would likely be considered illegal or invalid under state law and break ballot chain of custody.

The new rule, one of 11 that the board planned to vote on Friday, would require ballots to be counted by hand the night of the election or by the next day, which many local election officials say would be impossible in most of the state’s counties. In public comments Friday, some officials said it was too late to institute rules that require staff training and funds they don’t have.

“Military ballots have already been issued,” said Irwin County elections supervisor Ethan Compton. “The election has begun. This is not the time to change the rules. That will only lower the integrity of our elections.”

Saira Draper, a Democrat in Georgia’s state legislature and an election lawyer, saw the rule change as a blatant effort to cause chaos on Election Day.

“It makes me question whether members of this board are operating in good faith,” Draper said. “Putting 11, maybe 12 new rules into play days before Election Day is a grift. We are setting up our counties to fail. Why do we know they are going to fail? Because they are telling you that.”

A Georgia judge has already thrown out one right-wing attempt to mess with certification procedures in the state, and it seems likely that this new rule will be challenged in court too. But it won’t stop Trump’s allies in the state, who are strategizing behind the scenes to help the former president and convicted felon. If they succeed, they could end up nullifying a Democratic victory in the state.