Peach Tree Times

ATLANTA - The Georgia Election Board has adopted an important certification rule, requiring reconciliation of voters to ballots before election tallies can be certified at the precinct level.

"Level heads prevailed," said attorney Edward "Coach" Weinhaus who pushed for the new rule on behalf of the Coalition Opposing Governmental Secrecy (COGS).

Edward "Coach" Weinhaus

Supporters of the proposal have compared reconciliation to the process required of bank tellers at the end of each day. 

"Just as the bank teller’s cash drawer must reconcile daily, reconciliation of the voters to the ballots to the number of votes is imperative to ensure accurate election results," supporters have argued. 

Coach Weinhaus said he has been "amazed" at the level of histrionics against what he calls a common sense proposal.

"Contrary to the hyperbolic and uninformed claims that the procedures outlined in the proposed rule will delay certification, the rule actually affirms a statutory deadline for certification," he said. 

Coach Weinhaus, who observed today's hearing virtually, has argued that the number of ballots cast shouldn't exceed the number of voters who vote in an election. 

"Georgia law explicitly requires county officials to compare the number of ballots cast to the 'total number of persons who voted' for each precinct prior to certification of results," he said.

The new ruling implements the statutory requirement of reconciliation, which already was codified in state election law.

The Republican majority Georgia Election Board voted 3-2 to adopt the rule. Chairman John Fervier, a Republican appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp, voted with the board's lone Democrat, Sara Tindall Ghazal, appointed by the state Democratic Party. 

Voting in favor were Dr. Janice W. Johnston, appointed by the state GOP; Rick Jeffares, appointed by the state Senate; and Janelle King, appointed by the state House.

Other features of the new rule include assurance of "one person-one vote," and it guards against certification of inaccurate or erroneous results, such as double scanning of ballots.

Further, through the process of reconciliation, the number of voters to ballots from all methods of voting - absentee, advance voting and on election day - must match. At each precinct, the Board will compare the number of unique names by each voting method to the number of ballots cast of each type.

In urging the Board to adopt the rule, Coach Weinhaus wrote, "'One person - one ballot' is the foundation of a trustworthy electoral system. The Georgia legislature recognized this principle and mandated reconciliation before computing the votes on those ballots. This concept fosters public confidence in the electoral process by guaranteeing that no one’s voice is unduly amplified or diluted. Reconciliation of voters to ballots is critical for trusted elections."