The current version of the State Election Board in Georgia was made possible by the 2021 state election law overhaul known as the “Election Integrity Act.” The law was passed in the aftermath of former President Donald Trump’s loss in 2020, largely to send a signal to angry Trump supporters that, the next time around, they would be able to trust elections in the State of Georgia.
The process made Democrats livid, but the need for voters to trust the electoral system in a democracy is real. In the face of Trump falsely insisting the election was rigged against him, Republicans needed something to take back to their voters. Over the objections of Democrats, they made changes large and small to convince their voters that yes, their votes will count.
Along with requiring photo identification for mail-in ballots and scrapping most ballot drop boxes used during COVID, the law also removed Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as the chairman of the State Election Board. The Legislature then gave itself the power to shape the Board.
The removal of Raffensperger from the board originated with the late House Speaker David Ralston, a Republican, who never helped Trump in his efforts to overturn the election. But Ralston did complain, loudly, that Raffensperger should not have made major changes to election procedures during COVID without the input of the Legislature, especially during an election year.
Now in 2024, the “next time around” has arrived. But three years after the Election Integrity Act passed, the Board of Elections it empowered has, for many Georgians, put its own integrity in doubt.