Judge finds lawsuit against State Election Board targeted wrong defendant

A judge has dismissed a lawsuit alleging the state elections board violated state law when it approved new rules at a hastily called meeting in July, but left the door open for the lawsuit to be refiled.

Three Republican board members met to approve two election rules at the meeting, despite warnings from the attorney general’s office that they may not comply with the law. One rule allows more partisan poll watchers to observe ballot counting, while the other requires counties to post daily vote counts on their websites.

The left-leaning group American Oversight filed a lawsuit seeking to overturn the rules and fine the three election board members. Board members said they did nothing wrong. However, at a later meeting, the board voted again to approve the rules.