Cobb Reporter

Salleigh Grubbs, Chairwoman of the Cobb County Republican Party, said that election rules recently adopted by the Georgia Election Board are “common-sense, non-partisan” rules that will strengthen currently existing voting laws.

“The rule proposed, and passed with regard to reconciliation prior to certification is a common-sense, non-partisan rule,” Grubbs told Cobb Reporter. “It gives a process and procedure to an already existing law which is in complete alignment with the Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia. Additionally, the rule was approved by legislative counsel and just expands on the explanation of a proper canvass and certification for elections. In fact, providing a canvass is key in providing accurate certification, which must be sworn to by local board of elections members.”

“I have heard that the rule gives some folks heartburn because there has been erroneous information put out indicating that certification would be withheld,” she said. “As anyone can read, the rule restates Georgia Law that certification still must take place by 5:00 p.m. on the Monday following the election.”

The Georgia Election Board has adopted an important certification rule, requiring reconciliation of voters to ballots before election tallies can be certified at the precinct level. Supporters of the proposal have compared reconciliation to the process required of bank tellers at the end of each day.

“Just as the bank teller’s cash drawer must reconcile daily, reconciliation of the voters to the ballots to the number of votes is imperative to ensure accurate election results,” supporters have argued.

The new ruling implements the statutory requirement of reconciliation, which already was codified in state election law.

The Republican majority Georgia Election Board voted 3-2 to adopt the rule. Chairman John Fervier, a Republican appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp, voted with the board's lone Democrat, Sara Tindall Ghazal, appointed by the state Democratic Party. 

Voting in favor were Dr. Janice W. Johnston, appointed by the state GOP; Rick Jeffares, appointed by the state Senate; and Janelle King, appointed by the state House.

Other features of the new rule include assurance of "one person-one vote," and it guards against certification of inaccurate or erroneous results, such as double scanning of ballots.

Further, through the process of reconciliation, the number of voters to ballots from all methods of voting - absentee, advance voting and on election day - must match. At each precinct, the Board will compare the number of unique names by each voting method to the number of ballots cast of each type.

The Cobb County Republican Party is a principles-based organization founded on the fundamentals of Republican governance: limited government, personal responsibility, and equitable application of the law. The organization works to seek fair and free elections in Georgia.