Why are Democrats suing the Georgia election board?

The 2024 presidential election is two months away, but the legal battle has already begun. Democrats are suing Georgia's state election board, saying the panel has passed new GOP-friendly rules that would make it all too easy for bad-faith charges of fraud to disrupt certification of the contest between Kamala Harris and Donald Trump.

Georgia's new procedures could "create chaos on Election Day," said The New York Times. The five-member board in August adopted rules that would let local officials conduct a "reasonable inquiry" into allegations of election fraud — a power that Democrats say is fraught, given some of those local officials "have already sought to delay or refuse certification" of previous elections. Such a delay in 2024, the lawsuit said, could result in "mass disenfranchisement of eligible, registered Georgians."

An initial draft of the new rule was brought forward at the "behest" of Cleta Mitchell, said ProPublica. She now leads an outfit called the Election Integrity Network, but is probably best remembered for helping Donald Trump "orchestrate attempts to overturn the 2020 election." Critics say the new rule is more of the same. "Election deniers are intentionally creating a failure point in the process," said Protect Democracy's Ben Berwick.

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What did the commentators say?

Democrats are laying the groundwork to "prosecute, sue and threaten swing-state officials into certifying elections," Brianna Lyman said at The Federalist. It's not just Georgia. In Nevada, Secretary of State Francisco Aguilar and Attorney General Aaron D. Ford sued to have the Supreme Court order Washoe County to certify July's primary election results despite "alleged mishaps" that commissioners said deserved further investigation. And in Arizona's Cochise County, two election officials were charged with felonies after they stalled on certifying the 2022 election results. "Nothing says protecting democracy like trying to jail those who question it," said Lyman.

The Georgia lawsuit came after the "unelected board" advanced the aims of "election deniers and Republican Party operatives" with the new rules, said Nabilah Islam Parkes, Carol Anderson and Max Flugrath at The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. There is a "long and troubled history" of voter suppression in the United States. The new rules are reminiscent of Jim Crow-era laws that were designed to "stop Black people from voting to protect the Old South's political power structure." The lawsuit is one response. Another? "By turning out to vote in numbers too big to rig, we can stop Trump's election sabotage scheme and protect American democracy."

What next?

At least one member of the Georgia board is defending the new rules. "Actually, we're preventing problems from happening in the future," Janelle King told WRDW-TV in Augusta. She said some candidates had complaints about the process that were solved with the changes. "I don't think it's something that's major. I think it's a matter of process."

It's not just Democrats who have concerns, though. Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp (R) — who defied Trump to certify the 2020 election — has asked the state's attorney general if he has the legal authority to remove election board members over ethical concerns, said The Washington Post. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, also a Republican, said the board's moves are a "mess." "Legal precedent is pretty clear," he said. "You shouldn't change rules in the middle of an election."