Alarm bells are warranted
“Here in Georgia, we’re watching as Trump and his allies prepare to sabotage the 2024 election by changing the rules around certification election results,” tweeted Max Flugrath on Sunday.
The thread by the communications director of Fair Fight Action raises the alarm over weirdness out of the ordinary for Donald Trump. At his Georgia rally on Saturday, Trump praised three Georgia State Election Board members by name.
Yesterday at Trump’s Georgia rally, his lie-riddled & rambling speech had all the usual hits: false election conspiracies and attacks on VP Harris.
But one part of Trump’s remarks stuck out.
And it may be a preview of his strategy in November.⬇️
Trump praised the Georgia State Election Board, a government body overseeing its election rules.
Trump thanked three of the Georgia State Election Board’s members specifically for their efforts to change Georgia’s certification rules.
This is odd. Trump doesn’t usually concern himself with details this in-the-weeds.
The Georgia State Election Board members Trump thanked & singled out were recently appointed:
Janice Johnston
Rick Jeffares
Janelle King
Trump called them “pitbulls fighting for honesty, transparency, and victory.”
So, what exactly are they fighting for?
.@AmericanDoom_ published a great write up this morning about Trump’s certification comments at yesterday’s Georgia rally:
In Atlanta, Trump confirms that Georgia’s state election board is in his pocketThe comments came at Trump’s rally Saturday night and confirm much of what democracy advocates have long suspected of the board’s Republican members.https://www.american-doom.com/p/in-atlanta-trump-confirms-that-georgias?utm_campaign=email-half-post&r=48kvzt&utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email
From that American Doom post:
It’s jarring enough that Trump name-checked these previously-obscure officials — and that they received such a warm reception from the crowd — but it’s even more concerning that he praised some of their work specifically. Trump is not a man of details. The importance of him even being aware of a rule of such election minutiae as that passed at the SEB’s last meeting is a shocking alarm bell that he and his campaign are highly aware of the mechanisms they need to employ in order to get their way in Georgia in November.
Put more simply: Trump knows about certification, and his comments Saturday night are surely reflective of a much-deeper understanding of the issue within the highest ranks of the Republican party, signaling a clear plan to weaponize certification to their greatest advantage on election night.
Of the three SEB members Trump praised — and who were apparently in the audience Saturday night — Jeffares and Johnston are confirmed election deniers, as I reported here at American Doom and for the Guardian. The third, King, is probably one as well, or is simply climbing her way up through the ranks of the Georgia Republican Party and doing whatever she’s told by her handlers in her capacity as a member of the SEB.
Flugrath again:
First, more context on the Election Board: It’s now a Trump-aligned government body. One new member is a former Republican Party operative.
Their meetings are chock full of false election conspiracy theories, many are based on Trump’s 2020 election lies.
Trump-friendly panel shapes Georgia’s election rules at long, often chaotic meetingsThe State Election Board in Georgia once toiled in relative obscurity. Now it hosts raucous meetings where public comment lasts for hours and attendees loudly heckle board members and speakers.https://apnews.com/article/georgia-state-election-board-0141f8011dc9e7c054ed73f63dbf5f58
The Trump-aligned GA election board members are working to change the state’s election rules with less than 100 days until the election.
They recently held a meeting, unlawfully noticed and carried out, where they advanced changes to Georgia’s election certification process.
More on the Georgia State Election Board’s unlawful meeting and actions here:
Georgia election board walks back rules approved at meeting flagged by state AG • Georgia RecorderThe nonprofit government watchdog group that sued to overturn votes taken at a Georgia State Election Board meeting earlier this month.https://georgiarecorder.com/briefs/georgia-election-board-walks-back-rules-approved-at-meeting-flagged-by-state-ag/
After a lawsuit, the election board is holding another vote on some of the proposed election rule changes, on Tuesday, August 6.
The new rules they’re trying to pass can be used to sow doubt in the results and delay certification of the the 2024 election.
Experts: Georgia GOP officials lay groundwork to “obstruct” and “subvert” election certification“We’re seeing the national strategy take shape in Georgia,” Atlanta election attorney warns.https://www.salon.com/2024/07/12/experts-georgia-officials-lay-groundwork-to-obstruct-and-subvert-certification/
The Georgia Republican Party & Republican National Committee emailed the GA Election Board members the text of these proposed election rule changes with talking points to use in meetings.
Rules adopted by Georgia Election Board appear to have been suggested by GOP leaderTwo rules approved by the State Election Board in a possibly illegal meeting last week appear to have been suggested by Georgia GOP Party Chairman Josh McKoon.https://www.ajc.com/politics/election/emails-show-republican-leaders-involvement-in-georgia-election-rules/BHUKJ6LZI5ENDLU5BPALXJ24ZY/
One proposed rule change would give authority to local election officials to slow down or refuse to certify the 2024 election results.
With election deniers holding local election positions in Georgia, this should alarm us all.
These Swing State Election Officials Are Pro-Trump Election DeniersNearly 70 pro-Trump conspiracists are election officials in key battleground counties — and they are poised to make a giant mess on Election Day.https://www.rollingstone.com/politics/politics-features/trump-swing-state-officials-election-deniers-1235069692/
These proposed election rules changes effectively make the certification of election results discretionary.
But, Georgia law states that local election board officials **shall** perform their duties. Their duties are mandatory, not discretionary.
Another of the proposed election rules changes would increase workload demands on overburdened election workers, which could overwhelm county elections offices and ultimately slow down or stop the certification of the 2024 election results.
If you’re a Georgia resident & think these election rule changes are dangerous, please consider emailing a public comment of the GA State Election Board.
The deadline for accepting public comments is before 12:00 PM tomorrow, August 5th: SEBPublicComments@sos.ga.gov
Let’s not forget, in 2020, a Coffee County, GA elections official delayed certification of President Joe Biden’s victory, refusing to validate recount results and using MAGA-backed election conspiracies as the reason.
Exclusive: Georgia prosecutors have messages showing Trump’s team is behind voting system breach | CNN Politicshttps://www.cnn.com/2023/08/13/politics/coffee-county-georgia-voting-system-breach-trump/index.html
In the wake of Fulton County’s 2024 primary, Fulton County Election Board member Julie Adams filed a lawsuit to enable local elections officials to refuse certification.
Republican member of metro Atlanta elections board won’t certify primary resultsA Republican member of the Fulton County elections board is refusing to certify primary election results unless given access to detailed voting data, in a move that Democrats worry could jeopardize ce…https://www.ajc.com/news/atlanta-news/republican-member-of-fulton-elections-board-wont-certify-primary-results/IDYT7CZVMZAJXHDAADS7G6JNT4/
Adams is connected to the Election Integrity Network, founded by Trump ally Cleta Mitchell, who joined Trump’s infamous ‘find me votes’ call to Secretary Raffensperger.
Republican who refused to certify Georgia primary a member of election denialist groupJulie Adams, who abstained from certifying May results, belongs to Election Integrity Network, founded by Trump ally Cleta Mitchellhttps://www.theguardian.com/us-news/article/2024/jun/04/republican-julie-adams-georgia-election-integrity-network
America First Policy Institute, a Trump-aligned organization, is representing Adams in her lawsuit seeking to overturn Georgia certification law.
‘Wild west of election work’: How certification fights are already cropping up in battleground states | CNN Politicshttps://www.cnn.com/2024/07/30/politics/certification-fights-battle-ground-states/index.html
Here in Georgia, we’re watching as Trump and his allies prepare to sabotage the 2024 election by changing the rules around certification election results.
Trump’s election sabotage plan seems more concentrated in Georgia than any other state.
If these election rule changes are approved and MAGA-aligned officials obstruct the certification of the 2024 election results, our votes are crucial.
Check your voter registrations status.
Encourage friends, family, and your community to register + vote.
Volunteer if you can.
Early voting starts soon, make a plan.
Consider serving as a poll worker.
Volunteer with your local/state Democratic Party’s voter protection efforts.
Our collective participation is crucial to stopping Trump’s election sabotage scheme.
If we turnout and make our voices heard at the ballot box, we can protect American democracy. But we have to show up.
Please RT this to help spread the word.🙏
Be on watch for this. Election protection attorney Marc Elias warned in the recent Rolling Stone reporting that “we are going to see mass refusals to certify the elections.” As you can see from Trump’s pleased blathering, Republicans are “counting on the fact that if they don’t certify in several small counties, you cannot certify these statewide results.”
This is not a new GOP approach to “fixing” elections. It’s an upgrade, writes Elias, to their democracy downgrade.
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