Georgia leaders ask Kemp to take action against Trump-backed State Election Board members

ATLANTA – A group of Georgia lawmakers and civil rights leaders are calling for Gov. Brian Kemp to take action against three Trump-backed members of the State Election Board.

This comes after changes to state policies many believe could cause a delay in the certification of election results in November.

The three members in question, Janelle King, Rick Jeffares and Dr. Janice Johnston, are accused of violating the state’s open meetings act and facing ethics complaints stemming from the approval of changes that would now require local election boards to look for discrepancies before they can certify results.

The changes made so close to Election Day have drawn criticism from lawmakers on both sides of the aisle, including Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

Sen. Nabilah Islam-Parkes (D-Dist. 7), who filed that complaint, says she doesn’t believe they have the authority to make those kinds of changes. 

“The election board is supposed to certify election results and so passing illegal rules to undermine the integrity of our elections is extremely concerning,” said Sen. Islam-Parkes. “So, I am proud to stand with clergy and other elected lawmakers to stand against these series of rules that the election board is passing.”

Islam-Parkes says she hasn’t heard back from Gov. Kemp’s office about the complaint she filed, but hopes he will “do the right thing”.

FOX 5 Atlanta reached out to Gov. Kemp independently. We’re also still waiting to hear back.

Islam-Parkes says she will hold a press conference on the matter at the Georgia State Capitol at 10 a.m. on Monday.