Atlanta — Fair Fight, a leading voting rights organization, has launched a new TV ad titled "Rigged", highlighting the illegal actions of the Georgia State Election Board’s pro-Trump members. The ad, starting to air tomorrow across Fox News, CNN, and MSNBC in the Atlanta area, exposes how the board has passed new election rules which could obstruct the certification of Georgia’s 2024 election results and how these rule changes could help Trump sow chaos in November.

The ad stresses troubling ties between these board members and Donald Trump, who publicly praised them at a recent Atlanta rally, and how the the new rules were drafted behind the scenes in coordination with Republican Party operatives, Trump-aligned election deniers, and local election officials who continue to promote false claims of fraud from the 2020 election.

Emphasizing how Georgia Governor Brian Kemp has the legal responsibility and authority to put a stop to this, the ad closes out with a call to action, urging Georgians call Kemp and demand that he remove the MAGA extremists from Georgia’s State Election Board. The ad also encourages viewers to visit CallKemp.com to find Governor Kemp’s phone number and make their voices heard.

“Trump and his election denier allies are manipulating Georgia’s election rules to give Trump the power to veto our votes – we can’t let it stand. This is a call to action for all Georgians to stand up against the MAGA operation’s attempt to undermine our elections. Governor Kemp has both the legal authority and responsibility to shut this down and ensure that our elections remain fair and independent – call him today and demand he do so: (404) 656-1776,” said Lauren Groh-Wargo, Fair Fight CEO.

This new ad campaign follows growing concern over the Georgia Election Board’s actions. After the MAGA board members held an illegal meeting to push through rules changes, a formal ethics complaint was filed with Gov. Kemp against the board members and state lawmakers have sent letters to the governor urging him to fulfill his legal responsibility by investigating the board members and holding a hearing to examine their illegal conduct.

One of the rule changes around certification passed by the MAGA members essentially makes certification of election results discretionary by giving Georgia’s local election officials new power to delay or obstruct certification. The new rule conflicts with Georgia law, which states that local election board officials shall perform their duties. Their duties are mandatory, not discretionary.

Despite the clear urgency and the law, Governor Kemp has not yet called a hearing, instead asking the attorney general for guidance. However, the law is clear: Governor Kemp has the authority to both investigate and remove members of the State Election Board if their actions are found unlawful.

BACKGROUND • MAGA Election Sabotage Conspiracy: Last week, a new 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.

BACKGROUND • Formal Ethics Complaint: On August 16, a formal ethics complaint was filed against Georgia State Election Board members Rick Jeffares, Janice Johnston, and Janelle King for allegedly “failing 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.

BACKGROUND • 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 meeting violated state law.

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