What Is the Georgia State Election Board?
The Georgia State Election Board (SEB) is a five-member state agency responsible for making and enforcing the rules that govern how elections are conducted across Georgia's 159 counties. Established under Georgia law, the Board serves as the primary regulatory authority for how elections are conducted statewide. The board used to operate under the Secretary of State, but state legislators influenced by the big lie passed Senate Bill 189, removing the Georgia Secretary of State from the State Election Board and establishing the board as its own entity with its own growing budget.

Board members are chosen through a combination of legislative and executive appointments: the chairperson is elected by the full General Assembly, the Senate and House can each elect one member, and each major political party nominates a member to be appointed by the Governor. Members serve four-year terms. Currently, two members were appointed during recess and have yet to be confirmed by the state legislature.

What Does the SEB Do, and What Is It Supposed to Do?
In theory, the SEB is a neutral regulatory body. Its core responsibilities include promulgating rules and regulations for conducting primaries and general elections, providing guidance to county election officials, investigating complaints of election law violations, and referring cases to the Attorney General or local prosecutors when warranted. It also has the power to discipline, or in extreme cases remove, county election officials who fail to comply with state law, and can intervene in counties it determines are mismanaging elections.

In practice, the line between legitimate oversight and partisan interference has become increasingly blurry. The State Election Board is tasked with writing rules to ensure that elections run smoothly and hearing complaints about alleged violations.But in recent years, the board has been hijacked by election denier activists who now hold a majority and consistently use the board for partisan theatrics, and more concerningly threaten the integrity of the very elections it is supposed to protect.

Who Are the Current Members?
As of early 2026, the five-member board is:
John Fervier — Chairman, appointed January 5, 2024
Sara Tindall Ghazal — Member, appointed June 1, 2021 (the lone Democrat)
Janice Johnston — Member, appointed March 2, 2022
Janelle King — Member, appointed May 17, 2024
Salleigh Grubbs — Member, appointed December 22, 2025, replacing former state Sen. Rick Jeffares

The board has a strong Republican majority aligned with President Donald Trump. The board’s newest member, Salleigh Grubbs, is the former head of the Cobb County Republican Party and currently serves as the first vice chair of the Georgia Republican Party.

Recent Controversies
The SEB has been at the center of intense national scrutiny since 2024. The three most conservative members: Janice Johnston, former state Sen. Rick Jeffares, and Janelle King, made national headlines after approving seven election rules ahead of the 2024 general election, despite Attorney General Chris Carr's warnings that the changes likely violated Georgia law.

If enacted, the rules would have ordered poll workers to hand count all ballots cast on Election Day, made it easier for local election officials to delay certifying election results, and required family members and caregivers to present a photo ID when dropping off absentee ballots on behalf of another voter. The Republican majority on the SEB was praised by former President Donald Trump for these moves, even as the rules drew criticism not only from Democrats and voting rights groups, but also from Georgia's Republican Secretary of State and Attorney General.

Fulton County Superior Court judges rebuked the board, with Judge Thomas Cox Jr. declaring the certification and hand-counting rules "illegal, unconstitutional and void." The Georgia Supreme Court permanently struck down four of the rules in June 2025, concluding that the board members had exceeded their authority in attempting to implement guidelines that went beyond the scope of Georgia's election laws.

The controversies did not stop there. ProPublica revealed that right-wing organizations, including the Election Integrity Network led by Cleta Mitchell, who helped orchestrate attempts to overturn the 2020 election had secretly pushed rules through the SEB designed to make it easier to delay election certification.
Most recently, in February 2026, the SEB considered but ultimately declined, for now, to seize control of Fulton County's election administration, signaling that the board's appetite for aggressive intervention in Democratic-stronghold counties remains very much alive.

Why Common Cause Georgia Monitors These Meetings
Democracy depends on transparency. The SEB's decisions directly affect whether your vote is counted, when results are certified, and how elections are administered in every corner of the state. When these meetings happen without public scrutiny, it creates an opening for the kind of last-minute, legally questionable rule changes that defined the 2024 election cycle.

Common Cause Georgia monitors SEB meetings to ensure the Board acts within its legal authority, to provide real-time public information about proposed rule changes and their implications, to hold board members accountable to voters, not partisan interests, and to document actions that may require legal or legislative responses. Your presence at these meetings in person or online sends a clear message: Georgia voters are paying attention.

What Do the Meetings Usually Look Like?
SEB meetings are held monthly, typically beginning at 9:00 AM. They are open to the public and livestreamed on the SEB's YouTube channel. A typical meeting includes adoption of the agenda and minutes from the prior meeting, presentations or proposed new rules for public comment, votes on pending rule changes, and hearings on complaint cases involving county election officials or candidates accused of violating state election law. Meetings can run anywhere from a couple of hours to a full day or two, depending on the agenda. Members of the public can sign up to offer oral public comment, usually limited to two to three minutes per speaker.

Can I Support Online?
Yes! If you can't attend in person, you can still make an impact. The meetings are livestreamed at youtube.com/@GAStateElectionBoard. You can watch live, follow along with Common Cause Georgia's real-time updates or our updates through our newsletter, and submit written public comment ahead of meetings when the agenda is posted. We are also encouraging Common Cause Georgia members to provide public comment in person. Contact Andres Parra at aparra@commoncause.org for more information.

How Can I Get Involved?
There are several ways to take action with Common Cause Georgia:
Sign up through our Mobilize link to monitor an upcoming SEB meeting in person or virtually. Join our Election Protection program and get trained to be a credentialed election observer. Sign up for our newsletter and action alerts to stay informed when agendas are posted and when urgent action is needed. Follow us on Instagram and LinkedIn for real-time updates before, during, and after each meeting. Make a donation to support our ongoing election protection work across Georgia.