DPG Raises Alarm on GOP Election Board Members Refusing to Certify 2023 Municipal Election Results

ATLANTA – Today, the Democratic Party of Georgia sent letters to three county Boards of Elections and the Georgia Secretary of State’s office demanding that county Board of Election members comply with Georgia law and fulfill their mandatory legal duty to certify election results in future elections. 

In November, four Republican members of the Spalding, Cobb, and DeKalb County election boards voted against certifying the results of their counties’ municipal elections, in some instances citing unfounded concerns about election integrity while failing to point to any substantive problems that would call into question the election results. Georgia Republicans have consistently used false claims of election integrity issues to undermine public trust in elections since Donald Trump’s 2020 loss.

The DPG’s letters urged all members of the Boards of Elections to fulfill their legal obligations going forward and requested that the Secretary of State remind Board Members of this obligation, as refusing to certify could result in legal action, including possible criminal penalties. Under Georgia law, as set forth in the Georgia Election Code and accompanying advisory opinions issued by the Georgia Attorney General’s Office, county Boards of Elections have a mandatory duty to certify election results. 

“Republicans have made themselves the party of undermining democracy, and the problem permeates from national leaders all the way down to local election boards here in Georgia,” said Tolulope Kevin Olasanoye, DPG Executive Director. “As we head into 2024, Georgia Republicans on the Boards of Elections must comply with their duty to certify election results instead of sowing distrust in our elections system, furthering a partisan agenda, and threatening to disenfranchise thousands of voters across their counties. Protecting Georgia voters and our democracy is the heart of Georgia Democrats’ mission, and we will not let Republican efforts to undermine democracy go unanswered in any corner of our state. ”

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