Lincoln Project Files Amicus In Georgia’s State Elections Board Case
September 30, 2024 — The Lincoln Project joined with Georgia First in filing an Amicus Curiae with the Georgia Superior Court to strike down the unworkable and idiotic new rules adopted by the Georgia State Elections Board just weeks before the election.
Read the entire filing here: http://lincolnproject.us/wp-
Key Quotes from the Filing:
“The rules that Petitioners challenge in this case undermine all of these values. These rules are unworkable for local election workers and officials—the people who do the hard work of administering elections—as reflected in the scores of comments provided to the State Election Board (“SEB”) from across Georgia. The rules impose crushing obligations, contain virtually no standards, and conflict with rules laid down by Georgia’s legislature and courts for more than a century. That they were imposed by unelected bureaucrats just weeks before a national presidential election magnifies the draconian burdens they impose on local officials. Indeed, the substance, timing, and context in which these rules were passed all support the conclusion that far from promoting the rule of law they were designed to generate chaos, sow doubt in our democratic institutions, and destabilize the conduct of Georgia’s elections to permit radicals to subvert the will of the people.”
The challenged rules impose insurmountable burdens on local election officials.
“The SEB’s rules impose duties on election officials that are virtually impossible to satisfy, that will guarantee disuniformity, and that seem designed to undermine public confidence in those officials’ performance of their vital roles.”
“The rules challenged in this action impose burdens on local Georgia election officials that will seriously impede their abilities to perform their vital roles and undermine the public trust in their work and the results of elections across this state. Those rules should be declared invalid.”
The rules usurp the authority of the legislature and Secretary of State and are administratively unworkable, especially given the short time left before the election.
“Practically speaking, these rules are also virtually certain to be administered in a way that will cause differential treatment of the votes cast by Georgia citizens in different parts of the state. That is particularly true given that SEB has provided virtually no guidance for how the rules should be implemented—but has instead dropped multiple, vague, unfunded mandates on local election officials with just weeks to go before a major election.”
“Dramatically aggravating these problems, SEB implemented these rules – and is still changing the rules – with just weeks to go before an election.”
Good government is not a partisan value.
“The conduct of elections in an “orderly,” “uniform” manner to protect the votes of citizens should be a shared value. Regardless of political affiliation, public servants – including the SEB’s members – should act for sound policy and the public good. But good governance is self-evidently not what has motivated the SEB.”
“The fact that partisan political goals appear to be driving the seismic shifts in election rules the agency has promulgated in the last several weeks are likely to magnify, not mollify, the public mistrust the rules were ostensibly designed to address. Yet despite the partisan character of the rules, the harms they will cause if not stricken are likely to fall at least as heavily on counties that have historically voted for conservatives.”
“Regardless of the voting habits of the voters most likely to be disenfranchised by the rules at issue in this case, however, the fact remains that these rules were rushed through despite grave constitutional, legal, and practical concerns by officials brazenly flaunting their partisan motivations. To maintain public trust in the system of government those elections populate, the ground rules our local officials follow for elections must be above reproach. The rules at issue here are not. They do not promote the public good, they are not sound policy, and they will not foster trust in elections. To the contrary, they appear designed to further a false narrative of voting fraud propounded for partisan reasons by one candidate (and the SEB members who voted in favor of them). These rules are unwise, unlawful, and should be stricken.”
The Lincoln Project is the only SuperPAC that has submitted amicus in numerous cases regarding the administration of elections and to stop partisan attempts to unduly influence the outcomes. The Lincoln Project is a leading pro-democracy organization in the United States — dedicated to the preservation, protection, and defense of democracy.
To learn more about The Lincoln Project, go to lincolnproject.us.
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