I’m a poll worker in metro Atlanta, and I’m already twitchy about the election.
The Georgia State Elections Board has gone partisan, now comprised mostly of (unelected) election deniers from 2020. Their job is to set rules for poll workers and elections, and they’ve done it with gusto: each year layering on newer, more complicated rules, some of which conflict with their older, more antiquated rules. But last month they outdid themselves. The Republican-controlled board’s newest rule allows county officials to delay certification if poll workers comply imperfectly with their long list of new and old rules—irregularities they can call “malfeasant.” And if that’s not intimidating enough, the Board also ruled that poll watchers, those watchdogs volunteering from both the Right and the Left, should have closer physical access—even though most have had only two hours of training, even though most are not familiar enough with protocol to know what “normal” is supposed to look like.
