In a 2020 flashback, Georgia’s GOP-aligned election board wants to reinvestigate election results
ATLANTA– Four years after the 2020 elections, new GOP oriented The Georgia Election Commission plans to reopen an investigation into how the state’s largest county handled the vote.
The Georgia State Election Board voted 3-2 Wednesday to ask Attorney General Chris Carr to investigate Fulton County government, hoping to reopen an investigation that was closed in May.
The action shows the extent to which Republican outrage over the 2020 election is still growing. animate party activists and comes right after a Saturday meeting in Atlanta where former President Donald Trump attempted to re-dispute unsubstantiated claims that he had won Georgia, which President Joe Biden won by a narrow margin that year. He praised the State Election Board at the same meeting.
Spokeswoman Kara Murray said Carr, a Republican who thwarted by Trumphad not yet received the request.
“We take election integrity very seriously and we will apply the Constitution, the law and the facts as we always have,” Murray said. “If there is evidence, we will not hesitate to prosecute voter fraud.”
The resolution states that if Carr does not act, the board will seek to hire outside counsel to conduct an investigation.
It is also unclear what might happen if an investigation is actually launched. In a hotly contested law of 2021the board was given the authority to take over election administration in individual counties. That provision was always aimed at heavily Democratic Fulton County after an election that an independent watchdog said was marked by sloppy practices and poor management, but without evidence of willful misconduct.
a trio of Republican partisans has, like Trump, taken over the leadership of the five-member regulatory board. The board has no direct role in determining election outcomes, but writes rules to ensure the elections run smoothly and handles complaints about violations.
Some activists who have long wanted to take action against Fulton County argue that officials should face criminal charges. Those activists have also long pushed for access to paper ballots from the 2020 election, which could allow for a citizen review similar to a that rocked Arizona for 2021.
As part of the May resolution of the earlier investigation, the board found that Fulton County improperly double-counted some votes. But those who filed the complaint say other issues remain unresolved, such as missing electronic ballot scans.
“It seems to me that someone is moving heaven and earth to not allow anyone to have access to paper ballots,” said Dr. Janice Johnston, a retired gynecologist who was appointed to the state Republican Party board. “I don’t know why. I’m just interested in the data and the numbers.”
Wednesday’s decision will likely be met with a lawsuit. The Fulton County Board of Elections has sent a letter to the state board bluntly stating that the May resolution is final and that the board is legally prohibited from reopening the charges.
“We will not be having any further discussions, investigations or other actions regarding this matter,” the Fulton board said in a statement provided by county spokeswoman Jessica Corbitt. “To do so would be a waste of taxpayer dollars and time that could be better spent preparing for the upcoming general election.”
The nonpartisan chairman of the state assembly, John Fervier, tried to block the action, citing a letter from Carr’s office that also warned the move would be illegal. The Associated Press could not immediately obtain a copy of the letter.
“We are putting this board in legal jeopardy by approving this motion,” Fervier said.
Johnston, who led a successful effort to overturn Fervier’s ruling that blocked consideration of the move, said a state Republican Party attorney advised her the council could legally proceed. Janelle Kingwhose appointment shifted the balance of power within the board of directors, said she is not afraid of a possible lawsuit.
“We have to make sure that we’re not afraid to take action out of fear of doing so, because in some cases it’s simply the right thing to do,” said King, a conservative political commentator.
It’s at least the second time in recent memory that officials or employees of the state’s Republican Party have directly advised the board on a course of action. Party Chairman Josh McKoon recently sent two proposed rules and talking points to another GOP member of the board, former State Senator Rick Jeffares.
Part of the deal reached in May involved Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the state Board of Elections and Fulton County agree on a monitoring team. On Wednesday, however, the board declined to vote on the team proposed by Raffensperger and Fulton County, in part because it included the former chief counsel in Raffensperger’s office and the man who oversaw Fulton’s 2020 elections.
Raffensperger’s office declined to comment on the council’s actions. He was ousted from his non-voting role on the council by lawmakers in 2021, largely driven by GOP anger over his defense of Biden’s 2020 win in Georgia.
At Saturday’s meeting, Trump said the three GOP-leaning board members “are all pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory,” as he criticized Fervier and the Democrat on the panel. He singled out Johnston, who sat in the second row and rose to acknowledge Trump’s praise.
“My courage was contagious?” Trump said. “Well, your courage is contagious, too.”