Georgia’s Fulton County approves plan for independent monitor team to oversee general election

ATLANTA– The most populous county in Georgia, which has a history of voice problems and was at the center of former President Donald Trump’s efforts to overturn his 2020 election defeat, has approved a plan for an independent oversight team to oversee this year’s general election.

The Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections considered two monitor proposals Thursday, voting to accept one and reject the other. Board Chair Cathy Woolard said the selected proposal now goes to the State Election Board, which called the monitor, for consideration.

This is the second consecutive presidential election in Fulton County to be held under the supervision of an independent overseer. The heavily Democratic county is home to about 11 percent of the state’s electorate and includes most of the city of Atlanta. It has long been the subject of national scrutiny for its history of problemsincluding long lines and slow vote reporting. It’s a favorite punching bag for Republicans, including Trump, who claimed without evidence that that widespread voter fraud in Fulton County cost him the 2020 Georgia election.

It was also announced this week that Woolard plans to leave the board on July 25, with just over three months to go until the November election. She previously served as chair of the board from September 2021 to May 2023 and was reappointed chair in April after the then chair stepped down.

In a July 3 letter to County Board of Commissioners Chairman Robb Pitts, Woolard said she had taken on the role as interim officer to run the May and June primaries and that “it is time to hand the reins to someone who can serve through the fall elections.”

The five-person Fulton County Board of Elections consists of two members appointed by the county Democratic Party, two members appointed by the county Republican Party, and a chairperson appointed by the county Board of Commissioners. Day-to-day operations of running elections are overseen by the county elections director, who reports to the board.

Closing out the Fulton Board of Elections meeting on Thursday, Woolard told staff they are “doing spectacularly.”

“While people want to tear Fulton County down because of things that may or may not have happened in the past, we’ve gotten past that. Others may not, but we’ve gotten past that and some really great things have happened,” said Woolard, who expressed confidence in Elections Director Nadine Williams, who was hired permanently in February 2023.

Woolard said she was encouraged by the progress the province had made after years of challenges during her brief return to the helm of government.

As part of an agreement with the State Election Council in 2020, independent monitor investigated the county’s election processes during that year’s general election. He documented “sloppy processes” and “systemic disorganization,” but found no evidence of illegality or fraud.

The following year, the Council of State began an investigation that lasted almost two years Performance Review of the province’s election practices on the request from Republican state lawmakersThe assessment panel concluded that the province show significant improvementwhat prompted the State Election Council to vote last year do not take over the provincial elections.

To resolve a case against Fulton County over allegations of double-scanning ballots during a 2020 election recount, the state board voted in May to appoint an observer to observe the county’s elections and election processes in 2024. The observer’s selection must be approved by the county, the State Election Board and the secretary of state’s office.

Fulton election board members briefly discussed two monitoring proposals during Thursday’s meeting. The board voted 3-2, with Woolard joining the two Democratic nominees, to approve one proposal and reject the other. The proposal they approved, which Woolard said already has the secretary of state’s approval, would cost the county $99,600.

The team is comprised of five people, including: Lynn Bailey, former Richmond County elections director; Monica Childers, an elections expert for the U.S. Election Assistance Commission; Ryan Germany, former general counsel for the Georgia Secretary of State’s office; Carter Jones, the independent monitor appointed to evaluate Fulton’s 2020 elections; and Matt Mashburn, a former member of the State Election Board and former Republican pollster.

The monitoring team’s mission, according to the proposal, is to “ensure that Fulton County follows appropriate laws, rules and procedures in administering the 2024 elections.” The proposal says the monitoring team would begin its work next month and issue a report by the end of the year.

Republican board members Julie Adams and Michael Heekin voted against the proposal, which eventually passed, arguing that the monitoring team included people who had been involved in the 2020 election and had ties to the secretary of state’s office. They argued that “fresh eyes” were needed.

Democratic nominee Aaron Johnson noted that Garland Favorito, who is currently pursuing a lawsuit against the county over access to 2020 ballots, was included on the monitoring team in the rejected proposal.

Her Democratic colleague Teresa Crawford called that proposal “extremely sweeping” and said it sought access to materials such as the county’s hiring policy and qualified voter list, which she said have little to do with how the county runs elections.

Johnson, Crawford and Woolard all expressed concern that it is not entirely clear who is behind the rejected proposal or what their qualifications are.