Atlanta — Today, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr provided Governor Brian Kemp an opinion stating that Gov. Kemp is not required to investigate and remove pro-Trump members of the Georgia State Election Board for alleged illegal and unethical actions following a formal complaint. The opinion focuses on what is considered a “formal complaint” and says Georgia citizens can’t “simply submit information” to Gov. Kemp and trigger an administrative hearing. Fair Fight Communications Director Max Flugrath responded with the following statement:

“The AG's opinion leaves a gaping hole where accountability should lie. If the grave, substantive, detailed, and ‘formal’ complaint filed by a former election official is not enough to trigger Gov. Kemp's legal duty to hold a hearing on the pro-Trump Election Board members’ alleged illegal and unethical actions, the only reasonable conclusion is that the General Assembly wrote a worthless law. How can it be that we, the people of Georgia, are powerless against an unelected pro-Trump majority administrative body that cannot be removed by the governor in the face of clear misconduct?”

This comes after a former election official submitted a “formal ethics complaint” to Gov. Kemp “under O.C.G.A. § 45-10-4” in Kemp’s “capacity as the official responsible for receiving formal ethics complaints and resolving them under state law.” That complaint, a detailed nine page document laying out charges against the pro-Trump members included specific evidence against them, is also more than twice as long as Attorney General Chris Carr’s opinion.

Additional letters echoing the ethics complaint’s concerns have been sent to Gov. Kemp by state legislators, urging him to take immediate action to protect Georgia elections.

This is all happening as the pro-Trump Election Board members are changing election rules in a confirmed local and national conspiracy which could obstruct the certification of Georgia’s 2024 election results and help Donald Trump sow chaos in November. The board’s next meeting is on September 20 and they are poised to pass even more election rule changes.

Formal Ethics Complaint: On August 16, a formal ethics complaint was filed against Georgia State Election Board members. It laid out in a detailed nine page document how the state election board members, Rick Jeffares, Janice Johnston, and Janelle King, allegedly failed “to uphold the laws and regulations of the State of Georgia.” The complaint, submitted by a former Fulton County Board of Elections Chair, accuses the members of violating the Open Meetings Act and disregarding legal advice from the Georgia Attorney General’s office. The complaint calls on Governor Kemp to order a prompt hearing, emphasizing the need to resolve these allegations before the November election to ensure public trust in the integrity of Georgia’s elections.

Unlawful Meeting of Election Board: 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 meeting violated state law.

MAGA Election Sabotage Conspiracy: A recent Rolling Stone report revealed months of email coordination between Georgia State Election Board member Dr. Janice Johnston, local Georgia election officials who support Trump’s Big Lie, and election deniers. The email correspondence reveals a secret effort to rewrite Georgia election certification rules. The emails build on other reports that show direct coordination between Election Board members and Georgia Republican Party leaders, Republican National Committee operatives, and Trump-connected election deniers, even some that supported his failed attempts to steal the 2020 election.

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