Athens-Clarke Elections Board urges state officials to stop changing rules before November election

ATHENS, Ga. — The Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections voted to approve a resolution urging the Georgia State Election Board to stop adopting new rules before the November presidential election.

The ACCBOE says, as a governmental body, they are charged with considering and meeting “the needs of groups of people who have historically been marginalized and oppressed in our community, to maximize voter and community participation, to ensure access to free and fair elections, and to provide high-quality voter education and accurate information.”

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Regarding the recent adoptions of new election rules by the State Election Board, ACCBOE says the policies significantly impact the work of county elections supervisors across the state of Georgia just weeks before a presidential election.

The county board said the introduction of the rules so close to election day will create unnecessary confusion to both the public and dedicated poll workers and election officials.

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The resolution echoes the requests of other organizations and elections offices in recent weeks that have pushed back against the board’s new rules as election day approaches, including the Georgia Association of Voter Registration and Election Officials (GAVREO), who asked for a 90-day pause on new rules on Aug. 21.

Election Board member Janelle King, one of the members who has pushed for these new rules, told Channel 2 Action News that the new rules were meant to be “beneficial for securing our elections,” when asked about the GAVREO request.

As a result of the board’s actions, ACCBOE said the “new rules are dangerous and appear designed to set up election staff for failure by causing confusion and chaos, potentially compromising the legitimacy of the upcoming election and ultimately placing blame on the Superintendent.”

To avoid this issue, ACCBOE’s resolution asks the State Election Board to stop making new rules regarding elections and election policies for 90 days, and to make that a policy used before each federal election, barring “emergency circumstances.”

The Superintendent of ACCBOE also said they denounced the recent actions by the State Election Board and asked it to impose a stay of new rules on itself until after the November election.

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