The Georgia Senate Ethics Committee has approved a bill to oust Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger from the Board of Elections and empower the board to investigate his office for violations of election laws.
The full Senate is expected to vote on the bill in the upcoming weeks, and it is anticipated to pass both houses.
Additionally, the bill would also authorize the Board of Elections to investigate local election officials. Notably, the Board would be empowered to hire its own investigators instead of relying on the Secretary of State’s office for this purpose.
From Behizy:
BREAKING: The Georgia Senate Ethics Committee has passed a bill that would remove Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger from the Board of Elections and grant the board authority to investigate him for election law violations
— George (@BehizyTweets) January 25, 2024
The bill will be voted on by the full senate in the… pic.twitter.com/23q1Zwg2xb
WUGA reported:
Georgia’s Secretary of State could find himself under investigation by the State Board of Elections under the terms of legislation proposed in the Georgia Senate.
Senate Bill 358 would give the Board of Elections the power to investigate both the Secretary of State and local elections officials, and how those officials conduct elections. It also gives the Board the power to hire its own investigators instead of relying on the Secretary of State’s office to conduct investigations.
Senator Max Burns, a Republican from Sylvania, chairs the Senate Ethics Committee. He is also a sponsor of the bill. He said that the bill was driven, at least in part, by a debate among Board of Elections members last year.
“Last year, in the December meeting of the state election board, there was some discussion about whether or not the board had responsibility and oversight of the Secretary of State and the Office of the Secretary of State and their elections division.,” Burns said. “They split on that 2-2.”
Burns told his colleagues on the Senate Ethics Committee that the legislation was requested by members of the Board of Elections.
“We received communication from a member of the election board and then the Chair of the state Election Board,” he said. “So the chair of of the state election board in a letter to the Honorable Jon Burns, Speaker of the House and the Honorable Burt Jones, Lieutenant Governor of Georgia, requested that the legislation clarify the responsibility of the state election board and and its role in oversight.”
The bill would also remove the Secretary of State from the State Elections Board.
