The Georgia state election board has approved a controversial new rule that grants local officials expanded authority to investigate votes after election day. This move has raised concerns among experts and watchdog groups who fear that these changes could contribute to chaos and uncertainty in future elections. The rule, which was approved on Monday, authorizes any member of a county board of election to examine all election-related documentation prior to the certification of results.

Although Georgia law mandates certification of the vote by 5 pm on the Monday following election day, critics argue that granting such broad investigative power allows election deniers the opportunity to hinder the certification process and create unnecessary delays. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), along with the watchdog groups Citizens for Responsibilities and Ethics in Washington (Crew) and the Public Rights Project, expressed their concerns in a letter to the board, stating that the rule lacks safeguards against requests intended solely to obstruct the certification process.

The state election board, which is Republican-controlled, has been actively implementing new procedures ahead of the upcoming elections. Three Republicans on the board have already received public praise from former President Donald Trump. Earlier this month, the board adopted a rule that allows local boards to conduct a "reasonable inquiry" into elections before certifying, without clearly defining what constitutes a "reasonable inquiry."

The newly approved rule also requires the board of elections in each county to meet no later than 3 pm on the Friday following the election to compare the total number of unique voter ID numbers in each precinct with the total number of ballots cast. Votes in each precinct cannot be counted until any discrepancies are resolved. If reconciliation proves impossible, the board is authorized to determine a fair method to compute the votes.

This rule comes as Julie Adams, a Republican member of the Fulton county election board, has refused to certify elections in the state's largest county, claiming she has been denied adequate access to information related to the election. Adams has also initiated a lawsuit against the county board and its election director, with support from the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute, demanding greater access to election documents. Adams is associated with a network of election deniers led by Cleta Mitchell, a Trump ally who played a role in his efforts to overturn the election results. According to ProPublica, several activists in this network have contributed to shaping the rule adopted by the board on Monday.

Lauren Groh-Wargo, the chief executive of the voter rights organization Fair Fight, expressed concern over the influence of Trump and his allies on the Georgia state election board. Groh-Wargo believes that these changes to Georgia's election rules are part of an illegal scheme to disrupt the certification of the state's election results in 2024, with the goal of benefiting Trump, even if he does not earn a majority of the votes.

While several Republicans on the board argue that the new rule is necessary to ensure the validity of votes, critics contend that the board is overstepping its authority and creating potential delays in the certification process. John Fervier, the Republican chairman of the board, joined the lone Democrat in voting against the rule, stating that the board should not be attempting to create laws as they are not elected officials.

Discrepancies between the total number of votes cast and the number of voters are not uncommon in elections, although they are typically small enough to have no significant impact on the outcome. According to Tate Fall, the director of elections in Cobb county, the most common cause of discrepancies is when voters leave with their ballots before casting them. These discrepancies are typically identified and resolved by poll workers during periodic machine count checks throughout the day. Reconciliation reports explaining any discrepancies are submitted to the Georgia secretary of state's office after each election.

Although Brad Raffensperger, Georgia's Republican secretary of state, has publicly criticized the proposed rule changes, stating that they would lead to delays and distrust in election results, the board has decided to postpone a final vote on the rule until the next meeting in September. The debate surrounding these changes continues, with concerns mounting over the potential impact they may have on Georgia elections moving forward.