Democrats aim to show a judge how pro-Trump Georgia election board could spark certification ‘chaos’

Certifying presidential elections is a regulated process that historically played out without much drama or fanfare until the aftermath of the 2020 presidential election. But fights over election certification are becoming more frequent and widespread as Republicans in battleground states that could be decided by only thousands of votes try to challenge the process.

Four years after certification of the presidential election led to rioting at the US Capitol, fights over the once pro forma process are becoming more frequent and widespread as Republicans in battleground states that could be decided by only thousands of votes try to challenge the process. Disputes across the country are brewing over the role of local election boards and how much power they have to question – or even throw out – election results. Given the thin margins in battleground states like Georgia, Michigan, Nevada and Wisconsin, the election between former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris could be in the balance. While Republicans say they are worried about voter fraud, Democrats fear local officials who buy into conspiracy theories and false claims of fraud will refuse to certify results, leading to a potential legal morass and possible delays that inject uncertainty into the November election. In Georgia, for instance, Trump-backed members of the state election board recently passed controversial rules that could allow local election boards responsible for certifying results to conduct investigations that threaten to delay certification. Tuesday, the Democratic National Committee, the Georgia Democratic Party and Democratic members of several county election boards will try to convince a Georgia state judge the rules could throw the upcoming presidential election into “chaos.” “The law is very clear in every state that certification is a mandatory duty,” said Ben Berwick, the head of election law and litigation at the advocacy group Protect Democracy. The role of those officials, he said, is “simply to affirm that the canvas and tabulation have been completed and that the results are official.”