The first 3 laws quoted below are critical to prepare your group leader to be effective as your leader and serve as the public face of your group.
This page is accessible by the public. Therefore, info posted here is limited. However, we also have a secure page where your leader will have access to much more detailed info and the ability to connect with other county leaders. Your leader is free to share contents of the secure page with members of your group. We caution the use of discretion in doing so until your leader becomes confident there are no “spies” among their membership.
The order laws are listed is purposeful. The first group to form under MMG was blessed with a seasoned leader. Because this site didn’t exist and there wasn’t an organized source from which to learn, the process was more difficult and took more time to achieve a level of confidence necessary to lead their group and unfold their strategy. Nonetheless, that leader very effectively addressed her county Board of Commissioners (BOC) and Board of Elections in just a couple of weeks. She also had assembled an impressive group of supporters to fulfill the primary function of volunteers, which is SHOW UP! Best wishes for success of each and every group! Now, for your election laws in Georgia!
1st law: OCGA 21-2-300. (Quoted directly from our current Code of Laws.) “Provision of new voting equipment by state; uniform system for all elections to be conducted with use of scanning ballots marked by electronic ballot markers; pilot programs authorized; county responsibilities; education; county and municipal contracts for equipment.”
“(a) (1)The equipment used for casting and counting votes in county, state, and federal elections shall be the same in each county in this state and shall be provided to each county by the state, as determined by the Secretary of State.
Administrator Comments. This law, as shown above, ending in a period after the word “person” is an example of intentional and deceitful misquoting of the law that is provided as by the SOS to every election supervisor and county Attorney in the state! They, in turn, have quoted it as “the law” to their county attorneys, county commissioners, members of their BOE, and legislators. IT IS NOT THE LAW!
To be accurate, the period after the word “person” must be removed and replaced by a “comma”, which is followed by the phrase “unless otherwise authorized by law” which is in red.
Re-read the law. But, this time to include the parenthetical phrase, “unless other wise authorized by law.”
2nd paragraph of Law: OCGA 21-2-334 is authority for BOEs to replace the entire system with hand marked paper ballots and hand counting of those ballots. The law gives a few examples of the circumstances under which BOEs may exercise their authority. But, the list isn’t all inclusive. Near the end is a catch-all phrase that leaves discretion wide open to the interpretation by Election Superintendents this, “or if, for any other reason………….” Their discretion is all the authority they need!
The phrase, “unless otherwise provided by law”, is significant in the same manner as the phrase, “unless otherwise authorized by law” is to para 300 above. It alerts all that there may be exceptions to the seemingly omnipotent powers of the SOS. This exception empowers your BOE. Be mindful “empowerment” is not the same as “directing, or requiring” them. For them to use this authority, they must want to use it! As your leader will learn on the secure page, that’s where volunteers come in!.
3rd paragraph of Law: OCGA 21-2-366 is enabling authority for BOCs to accomplish the same thing as BOEs, but it is more specific: “The governing authority of any county or municipality may, at any regular meeting or at a special meeting called for the purpose, by a majority vote authorize and direct the use of optical scanning voting systems for recording and computing the vote at elections held in the county…….” It continues to say BOCs that opt to do this must pay for the new systems…….
It’s an easily understood, short paragraph. Notes after Laws 1 and 2 above apply here, too. Reminder: your leader has access to more details and guidance on the secure page.
4th paragraph of Law: OCGA 21-2-70 Oaths of Office for all election OFFICIALS! (Emphasis placed on “officials” because there are titles defined by law that, collectively, are the principal people who have legal responsibilities and authority in every county. (More on who they are in OCGA 21-2 “definitions” below.) For the purposes of this subject’s fit into our overall strategy , the oath of office is considered next in line of importance to Laws 1-3 above.
The oath of office is the same for the State Superintendent, members of county BOEs, (defined below, collectively, as “Superintendent”), the County Election Supervsor and the County Registrar. (FYI, most counties don’t have a separate titled position as Registrar and are officially organized as Board of Elections and Registration. However, a member of the BOE is usually assigned an additional duty as “Registrar”.
This is the sworn oath of office taken by election officials identified above:
“(B) In the case of a board of elections, each member of the board shall take an oath in the following form upon becoming a member of the board which shall apply to all primaries and elections conducted by the board throughout such person’s tenure on the board:
I, do swear (or affirm) that I will as a member of the board of elections duly attend all ensuing primaries and elections during the continuance thereof, that I will to the best of my ability prevent any fraud, deceit, or abuse in carrying on the same, that I will make a true and perfect return of such primaries and elections, and that I will at all times truly, impartially, and faithfully perform my duties in accordance with Georgia laws to the best of my judgment and ability.
(C) In the case of an election supervisor or designee for a board of elections or board of elections and registration, the election supervisor or designee shall take an oath in the following form upon being appointed as an election supervisor or designee of the board which shall apply to all primaries and elections conducted by the board throughout such person’s tenure:
Site administrators comments for VISITORS: Their oath is the same as those who they report to- the County BOE, NOT a representative of the Elections Division of the State SOS office! MOST ELECTION SUPERVISORS AND BOEs HAVE FORGOTTEN WHO THEY WORK FOR and the true source of their “guidance”. Who do they work for? Like all county elected officials, appointed officials and employees of a county government, their positions exist to SERVE THE PEOPLE OF THEIR COUNTY! The source of their “guidance” are THE LAWS AND CONSTITUTION OF GEORGIA! They work for us and they swear their oath to our laws and constitution, not the SOS, the State BOE, nor the “guidance” from either. Pespective, folks, it’s persective! If we are aware, we are the enforcers, the gate keepers, the check and balance. BTW, the Preamble and the Bill of Rights in our state constitution say more about We The People, our rights, freedoms and who this government belongs to and the responsibilities of those who are elected, appointed and hired within all government institutions and agencies! If we forget, or become complacent, in time they forget all of this and do as they please. That’s where we find ourselves today.
5. Oaths of office of members of County BOCs. Their oath of office isn’t addressed in election law. Because it is related and equally important as the oaths for Election Officials, I slipped in at this place on the site.
Their oath of office states they will support Constitutions of the US and the State of Georgia. Georgia’s Constitution says very little about elections. Most noteworthy is this, Article Two, Section One, paragraph One, “Method of voting. Elections by the people shall be by secret ballot and shall be conducted in accordance with procedures provided by law.”
Commentary: “Shall be by secret ballot”……. Secret Ballot has gotten a lot of attention the past several months. It should. “Shall” is the first operative word. The word “shall” means they, your BOC, MUST ensure its voters are able to cast their votes in SECRECY. As there is in paras 300 and 334 above, there isn’t any squirm room.
The question is: Do ballots produced by machines that affix a non-readable QR code as the officially recorded ballot (the one that is counted) pass the test of secrecy required by Georgia’s Constitution? There isn’t a long answer to this. The answer is NO. Therefore, despite what the law says, as it is inferior and repugnant to our Constitution, the machines are illegal to use. Although Judge Amy Totenberg did not publish a judgment nor order any action by our SOS in Curlin v. Raffensberger, she did publish a dictum saying the machines were in violation of two paragraphs of Georgia’s Election Law. That doesn’t make the machines illegal, in legal terminology. But, because the machines violate the “secrecy” clause in our Constitution, she didn’t have to do “adjudge” them illegal. The Laws that dictated their purchase and directed their use violated the constitution! THAT makes them illegal. Who should enforce the illegality of the machines? There is more than one government entity: The State Attorney General, local DAs, the county sheriff, the county BOE, the county BOC and our legislature by passing legislation that bans their use and directs the SOS to install another system. We the People want hand marked paper ballots and hand counting! Any one of those mentioned is capable of bringing about what we want. The first line of government available to us is our BOC. That is the pressure point and should be where we apply the most pressure!
Nontheless, there are two categories of secrecy the machines meet. One, the QR code and, two, what’s inside the machines- hardware and code of software installed in them! Only a fool or one involved in a conspiracy to commit election fraud would do such a thing!
6th paragraph of Law: OCGA 21-2 Definitions. I only identify a few that I think everyone involved in “election integrity” should know (1) Ballot; (2) BMD, (2.1) Ballot Scanner, (7.1)….and print an elector verifiable paper ballot,
(35) “Superintendent” This is the legal term for the final authority on all things elections (except where otherwise authorized by law) in a county. Counties who have a Board of Elections, it is the BOE that is the Election Superintendent.