Georgia State Election Board Chair John Fervier slammed his Republican colleagues Monday, after the state handed new election guidelines relating to hand-counting ballots.
Fervier, in an unique interview with The Atlanta Journal-Structure referred to as his GOP friends “inappropriate and unprofessional.”
“Our job is to clarify law, not create new law,” he stated within the interview. “This doesn’t should be an activist board. This board wants to remain inside its boundaries.”
“I’ve seen a lot of that character assassination that’s just inappropriate and unprofessional conduct for a member of this board,” Fervier, who was appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp (R), added later.
The interview got here out forward of upcoming court docket hearings centered on lawsuits aiming to rescind the brand new guidelines, which require every poll to be hand-counted by native precincts, regardless of issues from officers. The change, permitted lower than two months earlier than Election Day, was permitted by the board in a 3-2 vote late final month.
Whereas Fervier has branded himself as a “traditional conservative,” in accordance with the Journal-Structure, he claimed that his GOP colleagues — particularly these backed by former President Trump — have “undermined” his position because the board’s chair.
“We all represent every voter in Georgia, and we should act like that,” Fervier informed the outlet. “This hyper partisanship doesn’t serve anybody, and it certainly doesn’t serve this board. And I think it creates dissension.”
Janelle King, one of many three Trump-aligned members of the board, voted for the change, beforehand suggesting that accuracy is extra vital than timing.
“I can guarantee you as a voter, I would rather wait another hour to ensure … that the count is accurate than to get a count or get a number within that hour, and then to find out at the close of an election, after certifications have already taken place … that we have people suing because the count was not accurate,” she stated after the vote.
Fervier informed the Journal-Structure that hand-counting the ballots might delay outcomes till the morning after Election Day.
Trump praised the brand new Peach State election guidelines at a marketing campaign occasion not too long ago.
As a swing state in 2024, Georgia has a key position in deciding who will win the White Home in November. The previous president received the state by 5 factors in 2016 however misplaced it to President Biden in 2020 by lower than half a share level.
