Conservative media persona appointed to seat on Georgia State Election Board
ATLANTA — A media persona who co-founded a conservative political motion committee has been appointed to a seat on the Georgia State Election Board, which is accountable for growing election guidelines, investigating allegations of fraud and making suggestions to state lawmakers.
Georgia Home Speaker Jon Burns, a Republican, on Friday introduced the appointment of Janelle King to the board, efficient instantly. She replaces Ed Lindsey, a former Republican state lawmaker, who resigned his seat after having served on the board since 2022.
“Janelle might be an amazing asset as an unbiased thinker and neutral arbiter who will put precept above politics and guarantee transparency and accountability in our elections, and I look ahead to her work on behalf of the individuals of Georgia,” Burns mentioned in a information launch asserting King’s appointment.
King is the third new member appointed this 12 months to the board, which has 4 Republican members and one Democrat. In January, Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Waffle Home govt John Fervier to chair the board, and the state Senate permitted the nomination of former state Sen. Rick Jeffares. Janice Johnston is the Republican Celebration appointee to the board, and Sara Tindall Ghazal is the Democratic Celebration appointee.
King and her husband, Kelvin King, co-chair Let’s Win For America Motion, a conservative political motion committee. Kelvin King ran for U.S. Senate in 2022 however misplaced within the Republican main.
Janelle King has beforehand served as deputy state director of the Georgia Republican Celebration, as chair of the Georgia Black Republican Council and as a board member of the Georgia Younger Republicans. She seems on Fox 5 Atlanta’s “The Georgia Gang,” has a podcast known as “The Janelle King Present” and has been a contributor on the Fox Information Channel.
Regardless of her historical past as a Republican operative, King mentioned she plans to make use of details and information to make the correct choices whereas serving on the board.
“Whereas my conservative values are nonetheless the identical personally, in the case of serving, I consider that I’ve to do my job,” she mentioned in a telephone interview Friday. “So I feel I will present individuals over time that I’m honest, I’m balanced and that I will put my private emotions to the facet when crucial if that is what it takes to make the very best choice.”
The State Election Board has had an elevated profile because the 2020 election cycle resulted in an elevated polarization of the rhetoric round elections. Its conferences usually appeal to a boisterous crowd with sturdy opinions on how the state’s elections ought to be run and the board members generally face criticism and heckling.
King mentioned that would not faze her: “Look, I am a Black conservative. Criticism is nothing for me. I’m not frightened about that in any respect.”
Latest conferences have drawn scores of public feedback from Republican activists who assert that former President Donald Trump was the rightful winner of the 2020 election. They’re calling for main adjustments in Georgia’s elections, together with changing the state’s touchscreen digital voting machines with paper ballots marked and counted by hand.
King declined to remark Friday on her emotions concerning the state’s voting machines, however in a February episode of her podcast she mentioned she has seen “no proof of dishonest on the machines” and that she wasn’t in favor of an completely paper poll system.
