We at the Coalition for Good Governance (CGG) find ourselves and our two pending petitions for long-overdue election security rule changes caught in the crossfire of the State Election Board (SEB) conflicts. That’s why we emphasize the urgent need for cooperation, transparency and reform within the SEB– especially with the critical November elections fast approaching. This small short-term crisis, however, also creates an opportunity for positive reforms that can enhance the integrity of Georgia’s election process.
We call on every SEB member to collaborate in a civic-minded and highly cooperative manner to address the critical public business before the board through the most transparent processes available. The exaggerated allegations and recriminations currently at play undermine public confidence in the election process and diminish citizens’ trust that they can approach the SEB for fair even-handed deliberations on matters of concern.
From our perspective, there is ample blame and error to be shared by all factions on the board, resulting in the public being deprived of necessary and helpful information about what should be transparent
End the SEB’s internal conflicts
Board members should immediately cease their internal petty conflicts and use this opportunity to reset its course and priorities, a reset that is long overdue. The public has no patience for hyper-technical arguments about meeting notices and whether Wednesday and Friday gatherings were merely continuations of unfinished meetings from Tuesday, or new meetings, or emergency meetings, or whether telephonic attendance was compliant or non-compliant. The board members are wasting voters’ time when there are urgent matters to protect voting rights that board members should be addressing conscientiously and promptly.
For those of us who are open meetings and open records advocates, it’s easy to raise numerous additional questions about the propriety of last week’s meetings, including whether the closed-door executive session was appropriate and whether petitions, including ours, are being heard within the required legal timeframes. More importantly, every board member and their staff need to step back and reflect on their solemn duties to the public.
This requires prompt, expert and diligent rulemaking to govern the conduct of the upcoming November election.
The board has avoided engaging in public policy work for over three years. Despite numerous orders from the General Assembly during that period, the SEB has ignored these legal requirements to promulgate much-needed rules on a variety of new election laws. This leaves already overburdened county officials without the guidance they need to conduct upcoming elections. Until very recently, the board declined to engage in rulemaking when petitioned by the public. They have failed for 15 months to even issue needed requirements for election offices to report and mitigate cyberattacks, despite debilitating cyberattacks this spring on two counties.
They have also refused to address the 2020 request by the federal court to bring voting machine testing in line with the law, ignoring non-compliant shortcuts that undermine election security, despite being reminded of this obligation in court again in January.
Earlier this month, in a federal court hearing, Bruce Brown, our attorney in the SB202 case in which the State Election Board is a defendant, called the State Election Board “idle,” because of its failure to respond to the General Assembly’s specific orders in 2021 that they promulgate relevant rules for SB 202.
In summary, the board needed a wake-up call to prioritize good public policy making to build public confidence in Georgia’s elections. We believe this needless recent controversy can serve as that wake-up call.
Here are our requests:
-Overhaul their schedule for the rest of this presidential election year and meet at least once a month, and more frequently if necessary.
-Prioritize rulemaking and public policy matters to govern the November election, placing minor election code violation cases on the back burner as these consume significant time and resources.
-Adopt a set of bylaws with public input to govern its operations, ensuring maximum transparency and the ability to fully engage with the public.
-Scrutinize its operating procedures to ensure compliance with Georgia’s Sunshine laws and open records laws, erring on the side of transparency, which has not generally been the case in the past.
-Ensure that all board members’ written communications and meetings are fully available to the public and that no decisions, formal or informal, are made behind closed doors.
-Fulfill its statutory duty to conduct and manage investigations independently and not default to delegating all investigations to the Secretary of State, especially when alleged violations involve the Secretary’s office.
We call on citizens and organizations coming before the board to advocate for their public policy positions to tone down the rhetoric and take responsible stances after diligent study of the proposals. The current rules have a major void due to 20 years of operating without paper ballots, often resulting in the absence of normal chain of custody and standard operating practices for ballot accounting and canvassing.
Rules for more meaningful public oversight and monitoring of elections is also greatly needed, and bi-partisan cooperation is needed to develop workable rules. Constructive dialogue and respectful advocacy will facilitate better decision-making and foster a more cooperative environment, ultimately benefiting the integrity of our electoral process.
Marilyn Marks is the executive director of the Coalition for Good Governance.
