Georgia State Election Board continues raising eyebrows with recent moves

For most of its life, the Georgia State Election Board has been a sleepy bureaucratic body little-known outside the State Capitol, charged with making rules to help carry out Georgia election law.

That changed last year, when an emboldened Republican majority passed a slew of last-minute rule changes that drew legal challenges and national headlines just before the 2024 election.

This summer, the board has kept busy – with the Republican members taking a series of actions during July meetings that raised eyebrows among some election observers. Georgia State Election Board continues raising eyebrows with recent moves

That included taking some duties away from the nonpartisan chair and asking the Trump administration to get involved in resurrecting an investigation into Fulton County’s handling of the 2020 election.

Here’s what to know:

Republicans move to strip some duties from nonpartisan chair

The board’s three-member Republican majority voted Wednesday to ask the U.S. Justice Department to force Fulton County to turn over documents from the 2020 election.

“Again, it’s unfortunate that it has come to this,” said Republican member Janelle King.

The board’s Fulton County investigation was closed in May 2024, with the county being reprimanded for double-scanning 3,000 ballots during a recount after the 2020 election. But last fall the Republican members subpoenaed the county for records.

On Wednesday, nonpartisan chair John Fervier slammed efforts to re-litigate the issue. “I would like to state for the record that I am adamantly opposed to this resolution,” he said.

Fervier, a Waffle House executive, was appointed to chair the board by Gov. Brian Kemp. This isn’t the first time he has clashed with the Republican majority, who were praised by President Donald Trump on the campaign trail last year as “pitbulls fighting for victory.”

This week though, the Republican majority moved to consolidate some authority — including in hiring and scheduling meetings — in their hand-picked executive director, John Mills, a Republican ex-lawmaker.

“This is a last-minute request I was not aware of until five minutes ago,” Fervier said.

“Life’s full of last-minute things that happen,” Mills responded.

Qualifications of new staffer questioned

The back-and-forth over hiring authority came after the board hired a new paralegal and assistant to the executive director who was criticized for not having a legal background or formal legal training.

The new hire, Hope Coan, is the wife of former executive director Mike Coan, a Republican ex-state lawmaker who left his board position earlier this year.

The nonpartisan chair Fervier tried to raise concerns about the appointment, but was cut off by the new executive director Mills.

“I do not think this individual meets the necessary qualifications for this job, and the hiring process itself was improper,” Fervier said. “That is out of order,” Mills replied.

Hope Coan’s LinkedIn says she is president of Coan Construction. The staffer she is replacing was certified as a notary public, completed a paralegal certificate course and had worked for more than a year as a paralegal at a law firm.

Democratic member Sara Tindall Ghazal said she was not included in the search at all.

“I’m going to abstain because I have absolutely no knowledge or any information whatsoever about any of the candidates,” she said.

Hope Coan could not be reached for comment.

Lyft cannot offer discounted rides to the polls

The board ruled that Lyft violated state law when it offered discounted rides to the polls in 2022.

Georgia law prohibits providing gifts or anything of value in exchange for voting.

Republican member Janice Johnston said that because rideshares are more available in metro Atlanta, Lyft’s offer disadvantaged voters in rural places, even though the offer was technically available statewide.

“I like this idea of rides to the polls, but it must be offered to every voter in Georgia,” she said.

Democratic member Ghazal says that cannot be the standard. “Churches very frequently provide rides, and it’s untenable to offer to [everyone] across the state of Georgia,” she said.

“But to have voucher systems is considered something of value to vote,” Johnston replied.

Georgia law also prohibits distributing food or water close to polling places.

Republican member’s husband announces run for secretary of state

Republican activist Kelvin King – the husband of Republican board member Janelle King –  said last week that he’s running for secretary of state in 2026.

Current Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has not said if he’s running for reelection.

In a James Magazine commentary, Kelvin King wrote that for too long, grassroots activists and their concerns about election integrity have been sidelined.

King also wrote that he supports hand-counting ballots to confirm results, a rule approved by the State Election Board last year that was blocked by the courts.

Janelle King was among the three Republican election board members who voted for that rule. She helped her husband campaign in 2022, when he lost the GOP Senate primary to Herschel Walker, including in a video on voting rights.

“Ground zero for voter suppression, I’m not suppressed, are you suppressed?” Janelle King says in the clip. “Nope, this kind of rhetoric is not only dangerous, but flat-out wrong,” her husband responds.

State Rep. Tim Fleming is also seeking the Republican nomination.

No prominent Democrats have gotten in the race.