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Georgia鈥檚 Republican secretary of state is sounding the alarm that last-minute election rule changes implemented by his state鈥檚 election board are creating unnecessary confusion and undermining voter trust in one of the United States鈥� most hotly contested presidential battlegrounds.

Republican Brad Raffensperger famously declined to grant then-President Donald Trump鈥檚 demand that he 鈥渇ind 11,780 votes鈥� to reverse his 2020 loss in the state, facing death threats as he refused to succumb to pressure from the president. He鈥檚 since backed controversial voting law changes decried by Democrats, defeated a Trump-backed primary challenger in 2022, and crisscrossed the state trying to convince Georgia voters that his state鈥檚 elections will be safer and more secure than ever before, while implementing changes he says should ensure a smooth vote count this fall.

But a hard-right majority gained control of Georgia鈥檚 State Election Board in May. In recent weeks that board, led by that trio of Republican-appointed officials, has passed a bevy of controversial rule changes. They include rules that would seemingly give local election board members wide leeway to conduct 鈥渞easonable inquiry鈥� into any perceived problems with the voting process, and potentially toss out votes. Just days ago, they approved a new rule requiring all ballots be counted by hand to make sure they match machine counts, a time-consuming and error-prone process that could delay the tabulation of votes on election night. Mr. Trump praised the trio in a speech in Georgia last month, calling them 鈥減it bulls fighting for honesty, transparency, and victory.鈥�

The Monitor sat down with Secretary of State Raffensperger in his office in the Georgia state Capitol in Atlanta on Tuesday afternoon to talk about his work and his concerns about the board.

Here鈥檚 what he had to say about the looming elections.听The transcript has been condensed and edited for clarity.听

Do you feel like the members who make up the majority governing Georgia鈥檚 State Election Board understand how elections work?

No, I don鈥檛 think they do. And the only way to understand how elections work is to volunteer to be a poll worker. It鈥檚 as easy as that. Once you鈥檝e worked one election, you start understanding, 鈥淥h, they鈥檝e got this procedure to close that gate [to potential voting fraud].鈥澨�

These people don鈥檛 know what to look for. So any great conspiracy theory they hear, they buy into it.

Do you think these election board members are operating in bad faith?听

(Mr. Raffensperger pauses for nine seconds.)

That鈥檚 a long pause.听

I think they鈥檙e living in the past.听They鈥檙e fighting the wrong battle, because we鈥檝e already [responded to] many of these concerns that everyone had. The ballot storage boxes now are defined where they鈥檒l be and how many there鈥檒l be per county. You got one for every 100,000 voters. We also now have voter ID.

All the early voting [now] has to be reported no later than one hour after polls close, so 8 p.m.

So all you鈥檙e waiting for now is the 30% to 35% that could have been cast on Election Day. And we want to make sure we have constant updates from the counties.

Everything that they鈥檝e done with their rules and regulations slows down the process. We鈥檙e serious when we say 鈥渇ree, fair, and fast.鈥� And what they鈥檙e doing is just throwing a wrench into the works.

How big a wrench do you think this is? What sort of delay might we be looking at for reporting results?听

The counties have already expressed how long they think it鈥檒l take. It could be 1 o鈥檆lock to 4 o鈥檆lock [a.m.]. But once one starts getting to 3 or 4 o鈥檆lock, that鈥檚 the triple witching hour. 鈥淥h, is this the same thing that happened in Philadelphia in 2020, in Detroit in 2020?鈥� Everything we鈥檝e done is to shore up voters鈥� confidence 鈥� and everything that they鈥檙e doing is destroying voter confidence.听

It鈥檚 just a breeding ground for conspiracy theories.

Some of the new rules the State Election Board just passed would seemingly give local officials wide leeway to toss ballots if they claim errors occurred in voting or tabulation. And counties can conduct a 鈥渞easonable inquiry鈥� before certifying results. What impact could that have if these rules stand?听

At the end of the day, state law is very clear, and that cannot be violated. All elections must be certified the Monday after the election. Because [this year] Monday is Veterans Day, they get till Tuesday, they get that extra day. But that鈥檚 it. That鈥檚 black-letter law, and everyone has to follow state law. You have to follow the state constitution.

What if some counties meet the certification deadline but also, say, decide to throw out an entire precinct鈥檚 votes because they have questions about it?

That鈥檚 when other people will be involved. I鈥檓 sure the candidates will be filing suits along with other nonprofits and other nonpartisan groups to make sure that they do follow the law.听

Which of the new rules are you most concerned about?听

Every one of them oversteps what is already in state law. We think that a court will find that they鈥檙e null and void.听

The [Republican] attorney general, in a six-page letter of advisement, laid it all out. We had a two-page letter. But they鈥檙e bound and determined to do what they want to do.

You spent the past four years working to try and make sure that this post-election period would not look like what we saw in 2020. How much will the election board鈥檚 new rules undermine that effort?听

What they鈥檙e doing is actually very detrimental. Because [a winning candidate will say] 鈥淚 won in spite of all the stuff that you guys were doing to us,鈥� and if the candidate loses, 鈥淲ell, you know, the rules disfavored me.鈥� And so it鈥檚 not helpful for the republic.

People need to understand, and particularly conservatives need to understand: Georgia is ranked by The Heritage Foundation, a hard-right think tank, No. 2 for election integrity. Can I say that again? We are ranked No. 2 by The Heritage Foundation. I鈥檓 sure they probably got blowback from a lot of people, saying, 鈥淗ow is that possible?鈥� Because they did their work.听

They looked at all our processes and our procedures and our laws. I was the first secretary of state, over 1 1/2 years ago, doing a citizenship verification of our voter rolls before anyone was even talking about it.听

I was the first one that jumped on that, because I saw with our open borders that voters were going to be concerned about that. Rightly so. So, we did a check. We found [1,634 people] who attempted to register but were not put on the voter list because they couldn鈥檛 verify their citizenship. Once they show that they鈥檝e been naturalized, they show that documentation, they will go back on [the registered voter list] 鈥� but they haven鈥檛 [yet]. And they haven鈥檛 voted because they鈥檙e not on the list. And I think that should give voters great comfort.

We know that these are lawful Georgian voters voting in our elections.

You backed Senate Bill 202, which gave the election board some new powers and put in place a litany of other controversial voting changes backed by Republicans in 2021. Do you regret supporting that law?

Well, I didn鈥檛 support removing me as chair of the State Election Board.听

Fair, but you supported the bill overall.

Overall, I thought it was great, because I wanted to make sure that we could identify our absentee voters. When I ran, back in 2018, I said, as an engineer, that signature match looks awfully subjective. Guess who else thought it was subjective? Democrats and Republicans. We actually got sued by both of them. Now we use driver鈥檚 licenses, just like Minnesota, Kansas, Nebraska.听

Former President Donald Trump has repeatedly called you out. You faced death threats after the 2020 election. Are you still getting threats?听

Not recently. It鈥檚 been a while.

Are you worried about threats of violence in the run-up to and after this election, and what are you doing to lower those risks?听听

I believe we鈥檒l have secure elections during Election Day. We鈥檝e been doing regional tabletops with law enforcement, security game-planning, scenario, strategies. We also have given local precinct managers a texting tool, 鈥淪ee Something, Say Something,鈥� so they can alert. It comes to us, goes with the local county sheriff and also the election director. We also have lanyards with a press-button [to call] 911. We also want to have the local deputy sheriffs with their vehicles at the precincts. That鈥檚 2,400 precincts 鈥� that鈥檚 a lot of cars, but it lets you know, 鈥淗ey folks, you know, let鈥檚 keep it quiet.鈥�

Will you vote for former President Trump this election?

I don鈥檛 endorse anyone, and the reason I don鈥檛 is I鈥檓 the chief election official here in the state of Georgia. We don鈥檛 want any county election official spouting out who they support. Do your job.听听

Do you think we鈥檒l see the level of post-election chaos after this election we saw after 2020?听

There鈥檚 no way to predict, but our job is to be prepared for any kind of outcome at the end of the day.