Fulton County voters could be hit with more changes ahead of the 2024 Election. The Georgia Election Board will consider changes in voting rules for the Democratic-leaning Fulton County.
Today, the board will review nine rules that includes standards for verification of vote counts, absentee ballot mail tracking and election certification.
Republicans outnumber Democrats on the board by 4-1.
In May 2024, the Georgia Election Board called for a group of monitors to serve in Fulton County to watch over election workers.
The rule changes could be viewed as another component to make it harder for some residents in Georgia to vote.
Following the Democrats sweeping victories in the 2020 election, Georgia Republicans passed bill SB 202. The bill placed limits on absentee voting and the placement of absentee ballot drop boxes. It also implemented new ID requirements for mail-in voting, shortened the deadline to request absentee ballots and enforced criminal penalties for passing out refreshments to voters standing in line.
In turn, civil rights leaders and the U.S. Department of Justice said the bill made it harder for Black voters.
SB 202 was implemented after Donald Trump and his supporters made false claims that Georgia’s 2020 election was marred by widespread fraud, illegal ballot stuffing, and rigged electronic voting machines.
In 2020, Trump received 137,240 votes in Fulton County, while Biden received 381,144. Trump and his lawyers requested a recount and the final results led to the former president gaining seven additional votes.
When Trump was proven to be the loser, he allegedly attempted to steal the election.
Trump and 18 co-defendants are currently facing RICO charges for allegedly attempting to defraud voters in Fulton County during the 2020 election.
This week, the DOJ argued that Georgia’s deadline for absentee ballot applications is in violation under the Voting Rights Act. In its brief, the Justice Department writes that “Section 202’s provisions are privately enforceable” and requests that the court “reject Defendants’ bare-bones assertion that the existence of a public remedy in Section 202 forecloses a private remedy.”
A brief will be submitted by the DOJ by July 22.
