I am Natalie Crawford, founder of Georgia First, a cross-partisan nonprofit whose mission includes ensuring election access and security. We always seek to put people over politics.
“The instability, injustice, and confusion introduced into the public councils, have, in truth, been the mortal diseases under which popular governments have everywhere perished.” Those are the words of James Madison. And as a lifelong Republican, I fear we are living his worst nightmare.
I’m appalled by the recent actions of this board, the hyper-partisan behavior, and its embrace of ill-informed, conspiracy theory-fueled rule making. The recent actions of this board sow chaos and dramatically undermine trust in our constitutional republic and its democratic processes.
For this reason, I wish to inform this board that Georgia First will file an amicus brief supporting the lawsuit filed by Eternal Vigilance Action, Scot Turner, and James Hall. We concur with all counts outlined in the complaint and support the relief requested.
This board’s attempts to legislate through rule making violate the state Election Code and our Constitution’s separation of powers and non-delegation mandates. Simply put, this appointed board has exceeded its legal authority by:
- Mandating a vague, undefined, inquiry into election results before county election boards can even certify, risking unnecessary certification delays across all parties and races.
- Ordering county election boards to provide any individual board member with unlimited election-related documentation prior to certifying and without any justification.
- Adding onerous new restrictions on absentee voting.
- And lastly, requiring recorded video surveillance of early voting drop boxes.
These rules are unlawful because your authority doesn’t permit you to define “certify” and our Election Code clearly outlines certification timing and requirements. The 500 pages of the Georgia Election Code specify the timing, manner, and method for producing and maintaining election-related documents; outline what’s required for absentee voting; stipulate the rules by which citizens’ votes must be counted; and does not permit video surveillance of drop boxes. In fact, in 2021 the General Assembly declined to adopt the video surveillance requirement in SB202, which means this board is intentionally usurping the role of the Georgia General Assembly.
In closing, our Constitution guarantees of the right of suffrage. That means all qualified Georgians may vote and have their votes counted. Your board cannot stand in the way.
Thank you for the opportunity to comment.
These remarks were delivered by Natalie Crawford, Georgia First founder and executive director, at the Georgia State Election Board Meeting on September 20, 2024. Watch the full meeting recording here.
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