Georgia elections chief sends 'pretty scathing' letter to Trump-backed board: analyst

Trump-backed election officials in Georgia are rewriting the rules of how to certify elections in a way that would let Stop the Steal activists obstruct the results — and now, Georgia's Republican Secretary of State is getting involved to try to put a stop to it, New York Times reporter Nick Corasaniti told MSNBC's Nicolle Wallace on Wednesday.

Brad Raffensperger, a dedicated conservative, has frequently clashed with former President Donald Trump over his conspiracy theories about the 2020 election being stolen. Trump's phone call demanding Raffensperger "find" extra votes for him is also a focus of multiple criminal cases against the former president.

Wallace said on her show: "I feel like you have this extensive and vast body of reporting that takes us through the voter suppression laws, first championed and passed and signed into law in Georgia, through the antics of non-certification, refusing to certify things being, maybe, beta-tested in Nevada."

She asked Corasaniti to take her through the current situation 50 days before the general election, who noted the conversation is "unsurprisingly once again back to where it was following the 2020 election, about Georgia.

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"The State Election Board in Georgia, which has recently seen a 3-2 majority, right-wing majority take over the board, is passing new rules that are concerning, not just Democrats, but Republicans and election officials, and everyone from the county level to the state level in Georgia that could possibly disrupt the post-election period. We're talking about the certification, the counting of votes, the tallying of votes, and the sending off of electors to the Electoral College," he said.

"So last month, they passed a rule that would allow for local election officials to take a 'reasonable inquiry' before they certify, which has raised a lot of concern about whether that could throw certification into question," Corasaniti added. "Now, they're scheduled to meet on Friday. And they have over a dozen new rules and new proposed agenda items. We're less than 50 days out of an election. So Secretary of State Raffensperger's lawyer sent a pretty scathing letter to the State Election Board saying, you really shouldn't change these rules."

The bottom line, he added, is that "we'll see what happens Friday with the State Election Board in Georgia. But when it comes to concerns about the new laws, that's where we see the most action, at least right now."

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