Atlanta — After Donald Trump praised members of the Georgia State Election Board at an Atlanta rally, the board passed rules which change how the state’s election results are certified. The new rules can be used by Trump and his allies to obstruct certification of the 2024 election results.

Today, new reporting from the Guardian revealed that Rick Jeffares, a member of the Georgia State Election Board, suggested himself for a job in a second Trump administration to a former Trump adviser, who’s running for Congress with Trump’s endorsement. The news comes after another member of the State Election Board appeared at the Atlanta rally where Trump praised her and the other board members. Lauren Groh-Wargo, Fair Fight CEO, released the following statement:

“It's alarming that Georgia’s State Election Board members, praised by Trump at a rally, voted to change certification rules just two days later — rules that could be used by Trump and his allies to obstruct certification of the 2024 election. One board member even floated his name for a job in a potential second Trump administration, raising serious ethical concerns. Georgians, it's more important than ever to get registered and make a plan to vote early. We can safeguard our democracy from those who would manipulate the system for their own gain. Remember, protecting our freedom requires all of us to be involved — don’t let election deniers take it from us.”

Unlawful Meeting: On July 12, Republican members of the Georgia State Election Board went rogue to set up a meeting without public notice and seemingly without input from the Board’s Chair. Their actions were not in compliance with Georgia law which requires the Board Chair to give prior notice to each Board Member of the time and place of each meeting. The rules they tried to ram through in their unlawful meeting are the very rules that they later held another meeting to engage in a do-over vote and passed after a lawsuit alleged the initial meeting violated state law.

MAGA Certification Strategy: The MAGA efforts to change Georgia’s election certification rules, being pushed by the GA GOP and RNC operatives and approved by State Election Board members, build on other efforts by Trump allies to obstruct certification. Fulton County Election Board member Julie Adams filed a suit challenging a Georgia law that prevents local officials from refusing certification. She’s represented by the Trump-aligned America First Policy Institute in her lawsuit and also works with the Election Integrity Network, founded by Cleta Mitchell, who joined Trump’s infamous call to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. In 2020, a Coffee County elections official delayed certifying President Joe Biden’s win in Georgia and refused to validate the recount results, citing MAGA-backed election conspiracies.

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