Georgia State Election Board and Atlanta's Fulton County spar over election monitor plan

ATLANTA -- With less than a month to go before voters head to the polls, the State Election Board is embroiled in a fight with Georgia's most populous county over a monitoring team to observe the county's election practices.

The monitoring team was part of a resolution of a complaint against Fulton County stemming from the 2020 election. The State Election Board in May found that the county violated some parts of the state election code. It voted to issue a letter of reprimand, which included instructions for an agreement on a mutually acceptable monitor to be entered into by the board's August meeting.

But the county and state election boards have been unable reach agreement. The county favors a team proposed by Ryan Germany, a former chief lawyer for the secretary of state’s office, and the Atlanta-based Carter Center. The Donald Trump-endorsed majority on the State Election Board has proposed an alternative slate that includes people who questioned the results of the 2020 presidential election.

In late August the county went ahead and hired its team without agreement from the state board, and it has been in place monitoring pre-election practices for over a month. But the disagreement between the county and state boards continued to fester and escalated significantly this week.

On Monday the Fulton County board filed a lawsuit asking a judge to declare that the state board lacks the authority to force it “to accept, and Fulton County to pay for, additional monitors for the 2024 election that have been hand-picked by certain State Election Board members.”

At a State Election Board meeting Tuesday, member Janice Johnston said the county doesn't seem to be holding up its part of the bargain. She had voted against the agreement because she didn’t believe the investigation into the original complaint was complete and has repeatedly tried unsuccessfully to reopen it.

Johnston proposed subpoenaing a trove of 2020 election documents from the Fulton County clerk of court. She and the other two Republican members of the board voted for the subpoena over the objections of the lone Democratic member and the nonpartisan chair, who pointed out that the state attorney general said the case was closed and could not be reopened.

An Aug. 19 legal opinion written by state Attorney General Chris Carr and obtained by The Associated Press says final decisions of the State Election Board are “preclusive" and that “re-litigation of all claims which have already been adjudicated, or which could have been adjudicated, is therefore prohibited.” Fulton County attorneys assert that the approval of the motion at the May meeting and resulting reprimand meant the case is closed and can't be reopened, and that “argument is likely correct,” Carr wrote.

Asked about the attorney general's guidance, Johnston said, “That was opinion. That's not a legal finding. That was their advice or opinion. We have different opinions about that.”

Fulton is home to about 11% of the state’s electorate and includes most of Atlanta. Problems with its elections, including long lines and slow reporting of results, have drawn national scrutiny. Then-President Trump falsely asserted that widespread voter fraud in Fulton County during the 2020 presidential election cost him the state.

After a particularly problematic primary that year, the county and the State Election Board formally agreed to assign an independent monitor to examine county’s election practices during the general. He documented “sloppy processes” and “systemic disorganization” but found no evidence of illegality or fraud.

Fulton County’s elections have been closely watched since then, and the State Election Board voted last year not to take over its elections after a performance review found the county showed marked improvement.

The county and the secretary of state's office both signed off in July on a team proposed by Germany, who also was part of the team that did the performance review. The county also rejected a proposal from Johnston.

The Republican majority on the State Election Board repeatedly said during meetings in August that they did not approve of the county's team. But the county board reaffirmed its selection, and county commissioners voted to approve the contract days later.

The state board Republicans in September repeated their dissatisfaction, and Johnston suggested that she and board chair John Fervier meet with Fulton County election board chair Sherri Allen.

Fervier said at Tuesday's meeting that they met last week, that Johnston proposed that the monitoring team be expanded and that the state board sent a list of eight proposed members. Allen told them the county commissioners would have to make the change, and Fervier said he believed no action was taken on that front.

Fervier then said he was alerted that morning about the Fulton board's petition to the judge. Johnston said she interpreted that as a rejection of the monitoring team members they proposed and accused the local board of not complying with its obligation under the agreement.