Lashandra Little says she and other Fulton County election officials breathed a collective sigh of relief last month when a judge invalidated a controversial set of seven state election rules that many feared would create “chaos” on Election Day.
“Training had already started,” Little, who serves as Fulton County’s voter education and outreach manager, told Capital B Atlanta. “We would have had to go back and change the training had the rules been implemented.”
Local and statewide election officials tell Capital B Atlanta they’re relieved they don’t have to comply with the new election rules and, as a result, they feel fully prepared to handle the upcoming election.
“The rules were unnecessary and would have upended our current processes,” DeKalb County Board of Registration & Elections chair Karli Swift told Capital B Atlanta on Thursday. “We are prepared for Election Day and look forward to welcoming voters in DeKalb County!”
Early voting ends at close of business on Friday. Former President Donald Trump and his Republican allies have been accused of trying to execute a scheme to refuse certification of election results in battleground states across the nation if the election doesn’t go their way on Tuesday.
In August and September, Republican members of the State Election Board approved rules at the behest of Georgia residents who share Trump’s erroneous concerns about widespread voter fraud being a major issue following the 2020 presidential election.
State law requires county election officials to certify this year’s election results by close of business on Nov. 12. One of the now-defunct rules would have allowed county election officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying those results if they have concerns about issues like alleged voter fraud.
Trump-aligned local election officials like Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections member Julie Adams, a Republican, have previously refused to certify results until their concerns about potential voter fraud have been addressed.
Another controversial rule would have required election officials to hand-count some ballots on the night of the election to ensure the number of ballots submitted matches the number of people who voted in each precinct in the alleged interest of election integrity.
Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and GOP Attorney General Chris Carr previously concluded that the State Election Board exceeded its authority when it approved the new rules, which local election officials complained were approved too close to the November election and would be too difficult to comply with on election night.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Thomas Cox agreed with Carr and Raffensperger, calling the rules “illegal, unconstitutional, and void,” in an Oct. 16 decision. The state Supreme Court reaffirmed Cox’s ruling six days later, after Georgia Republicans filed an appeal.
The rulings cleared the way for what several officials expect will be a smooth election. That includes the secretary of state’s office, which said it has been planning for a smooth election all year.
“We’ve done everything we can to plan for an election that’s safe, secure, and accurate, and a pleasant voter experience,” Secretary of State spokesman Mike Hassinger told Capital B Atlanta on Thursday.
Some Black voters who cast ballots on the first day of early voting told Capital B Atlanta they didn’t encounter any problems.
Travis Doss is president of the Georgia Association for Voter’s Rights and Election Oversight (GAVREO), the organization that represents the interest of more than 550 local election officials across the state.
GAVREO members voiced their disapproval of the SEB’s rules during recent election board meetings in Atlanta before they ultimately were approved and later overruled in court. Doss said his members were “glad” when the rules were overturned.
“We will continue conducting this election just like we continued conducting the elections in March, May, and June,” Doss told Capital B Atlanta.
Doss didn’t rule out the possibility of individual county election officials refusing to certify results, but said he doesn’t expect it to be a major problem.
“There’s always that potential with individual board members; however, the law is clear,” he said. “The judge had ruled previously in another case that certification is not discretionary.”
Election officials say local law enforcement officers across the state have been preparing for potential voter intimidation issues such as protesters near regional precincts.
“We can’t guarantee that we’re not going to get a couple of yahoos on Election Day protesting or harassing, but we’re prepared for that,” Hassinger said.
In Fulton County, as many as 1,800 election workers at a total of 171 precincts will be on the job on Tuesday, according to Little, the Fulton County Board of Election voter education and outreach manager, who said she doesn’t expect issues like voter intimidation will be a problem.
“I think we’re looking very good,” Little said. “We’ve been preparing pretty much all year to ensure that everything goes smoothly on Nov. 5.”
