PRESS RELEASE: RightCount Files Amicus Brief in Georgia to Challenge Illegally Promulgated State Election Board Regulations

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
October 10, 2024

RightCount Files Amicus Brief in Georgia to Challenge Illegally Promulgated State Election Board Regulations

Atlanta, Ga. – RightCount, a leading nonpartisan organization dedicated to safeguarding election integrity, announced today that it has filed an amicus brief in support of plaintiffs challenging the Georgia State Election Board (SEB) in the case of Eternal Vigilance Action, Inc. v. State of Georgia. RightCount, along with a coalition of current and former Georgia legislators, is urging the court to invalidate recently passed SEB that exceeded the SEB’s statutory authority and interfered with the province of the legislature. The brief, filed in the Superior Court of Fulton County, asserts that the SEB’s new regulations threaten the integrity of Georgia’s electoral processes and violate the constitutional separation of powers.

The amicus brief argues that the SEB’s new rules, including rules regarding changes to the certification process conflict directly with Georgia’s Election Code. These rules impose vague and burdensome requirements on election officials that undermine the General Assembly’s exclusive authority to regulate elections. RightCount asserts that the SEB’s actions not only overstep its legal mandate by having unelected bureaucrats attempt to make law, which is constitutionally reserved to the legislature but also compromise the trust and transparency of the voting process.

Eric Johnson, Chair of RightCount and former Georgia Senate President Pro Tempore, provided the following statement:

“Our mission at RightCount is to uphold the rule of law and ensure the integrity of elections across Georgia. It’s a common-sense conservative position that the legislature, not unelected bureaucrats like the State Election Board, makes the law. Just like the recent U.S. Supreme Court case where the court said that a federal agency couldn’t force fishermen to pay for federal observers on their boats, state agencies are not Constitutionally allowed to make law or change the law. I’m proud to stand with my Republican former colleagues in the General Assembly to push back against unelected bureaucrats, no matter which party they are from, when they try to usurp powers that are constitutionally reserved to the legislature. By taking this stand, we are protecting the constitutional balance of power and ensuring that the votes cast by Georgia citizens are counted and certified in accordance with the law, free from manipulation and partisan influence.”

Mike Dudgeon, a former Georgia State Representative, also provided the following statement:

“One of the most important things we can do as conservatives is protect the structure that our Founding Fathers put in place. And that structure includes the separation of powers, which preserves the function of lawmaking solely to the legislature. As a former legislator and a conservative, I strongly believe that the General Assembly is where any changes to the law should occur. In this case, even if well intentioned, the State Election Board intrudes onto territory that the Georgia and U.S. Constitutions specifically leave to the legislature. When I served as policy director in the Georgia Lt. Governor’s office after my time in the legislature, I was directly involved with passing Georgia’s Election Integrity Act (SB 202) in 2021, so I know that the structure that the legislature has put in place for elections is strong and leads to secure elections. That State Election Board should not, and does not have the authority to, change it.”

The full list of amici include:

  • Eric Johnson, fmr Georgia State Senator & President Pro-Tempore, Chair, RightCount Georgia
  • Jodi Lott, Georgia State Representative
  • Allen Peake, fmr Georgia State Representative
  • Brett Harrell, fmr Georgia State Representative
  • Mike Dudgeon, fmr Georgia State Representative
  • Tom Kirby, fmr Georgia State Representative
  • Ken Pullin, fmr Georgia State Representative
  • Marc Morris, fmr Georgia State Representative
  • Heath Clark, fmr Georgia State Representative

The filing of this amicus brief represents RightCount’s continued commitment to strengthening election integrity in Georgia and across the United States. By challenging these SEB regulations, RightCount seeks to prevent unconstitutional interference in the state’s election procedures and uphold the standards that ensure accurate, legal, and transparent elections.

For more information about RightCount’s mission and ongoing efforts to safeguard election integrity, please visit www.rightcount.org.

Press contact: Jay@linkpublicaffairs.com

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