FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: August 27, 2024
Anti-Election Integrity activists feign process complaints to halt laws they don’t like
Arlington, VA – A week after Georgia’s Election Board agreed to a rule establishing standard procedures for counties to comply with a state law mandating “reconciliation” of the number of registered voters with the number of ballots cast, a group of activists led in part by Democrat state senator Nabilah Islam-Parkes has urged Gov. Brian Kemp to take retaliatory action against three board members.
The Board’s recently promulgated rules, including “reconciliation,” were each duly noticed to the public prior to final approval.
Despite state statute § 21-2-493(b), which explicitly states that if the number of ballots exceeds the number of voters in any precinct “such excess shall be deemed a discrepancy and palpable error and shall be investigated” prior to recording votes, Islam-Parkes said she questions whether the Board has the authority to make the change.
National Chairman of the Election Transparency Initiative and former Virginia Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued the following statement:
“We would like to thank the board for their diligent work under intense pressure from those who believe the law can simply be ignored. Every election law should be adhered to in every county, but the reality is that anti-Election Integrity activists like Nabilah Islam-Parkes want to pick and choose which ones should be followed. As a member of the State Senate, she had every opportunity to advance legislation that would change Georgia’s reconciliation law, but she never even tried. Now, she and her allies are attempting to intimidate Gov. Kemp into hijacking the duly appointed board and the rulemaking process for the purpose of preventing counties from complying with the law.
“This is about election administration—not the manner in which or when voters cast their ballots. The certification deadline of 5 p.m. on the Monday after the election remains unchanged by the reconciliation rule, which merely operationalizes Georgia code nearly word for word and impacts voters only by helping to guarantee lawful, transparent, and accurate elections.
“According to existing law, in signing a certification county board members attest subject to felony prosecution that the vote count is accurate. Obviously, each of them is expected to make that determination themselves otherwise there would be no point in having boards or board members. This is not a ministerial duty.
“The idea that board members do not have such authority is contrary to law—a Marc Elias invented principle that is not supported by decades of election law precedent. Any election administrator who is ‘confused’ or ‘concerned’ about the rule effectively acknowledges that he or she has been proceeding with homemade procedures that fail to adhere to the election code.
“We urge Gov. Kemp and Attorney General Carr to reject the frivolous process complaints and handwringing of progressives, which of course are designed to confuse and distract the public from the progressives’ own ongoing attempts to exacerbate an epidemic of disenfranchised voters who question whether their ballots are counted fairly and equally.”
Islam-Parkes falsely insists that the Board lacks authority to look into vote discrepancies.
“The election board is supposed to certify election results and so passing illegal rules to undermine the integrity of our elections is extremely concerning,” she said.
Every aspect of Islam-Parkes’ statement is wrong.
The existing statute, from which the “reconciliation” rule in question is derived virtually word for word, can be found here:
The Election Transparency Initiative, a partnership between the American Principles Project (APP) and Susan B. Anthony (SBA) Pro-Life America, was organized to combat federal H.R. 1 and H.R. 4 legislation and advocate for state-based election reforms that voters can trust.
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