Georgia election officials worry a GOP-led board will OK last-minute voting changes

Zach Manifold is the elections director in suburban Atlanta’s Gwinnett County, where training for 2,000 poll workers begins this week. (Matthew Pearson/WABE)

Updated at 5:43 p.m.

Georgia’s State Election Board is preparing to vote on nearly a dozen rule changes Friday that could take effect before the upcoming election, concerning local officials who are training poll workers and processing absentee ballot applications.

The once-obscure state panel is already facing scrutiny for advancing a pair of rule changes in August that could disrupt the certification of election results. The moves by the board’s Republican majority have drawn praise from former President Donald Trump and pushback from Georgia’s GOP secretary of state, Brad Raffensperger, and other election officials.