Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp has named a retired federal judge to chair the State Election Board, filling a position that opened more than a year ago when Kemp signed a new election law that removed Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger as a voting member of the five-person panel.
Kemp on Friday announced William S. Duffey Jr. for the post, which is supposed to be nonpartisan under the 2021 law. The Republican Kemp held off for more than a year on making a pick and state lawmakers, who could have filled the vacancy during their 2022 session, also chose not to act.
Duffey joins a board with three Republicans and one Democrat. It’s in charge of making rules for state elections and recommending what should be done about people who break rules and laws.
Republican lawmakers included the removal of Republican Raffensperger in a section of the sprawling voting law, in part because they were unhappy with how he ran the 2020 elections. A decision to send out absentee ballot applications to all registered voters angered House Speaker David Ralston, for example. Kemp went along with the General Assembly’s decision even though both Kemp and Raffensperger were taking fire from former President Donald Trump for not overturning Democrat Joe Biden’s victory in Georgia.
Although Raffensperger was removed from a voting position, his employees continue to act as the board’s staff, giving him significant influence over board operations.
