(Jacob Bruns, Headline USA) The Georgia State Election Board has demanded that Fulton County implement an independent election monitor ahead of the 2024 election after it was discovered that the county scanned thousands of ballots twice during its 2020 recount, Just the News reported.
The state board, in a 2-1 vote, both administered an official admonishment and determined that Fulton County had to comply with its demands after county officials showed themselves to be either incompetent or fraudulent.
“Does the investigation confirm that there are missing ballot images?”
“Yes.”
Case closed. No cover up operation can conceal the fact that Fulton County did not have the votes it claimed it had. The recount could not replicate the original results.
Oh, and it’s “news” to… pic.twitter.com/2HxZ4oMiNo
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) May 7, 2024
Still, the investigators maintained that, despite the double-counting anomaly, Democrat Joe Biden defeated then-President Donald Trump in the state.
Biden’s certified victory had him winning by 11,779 votes in the hotly disputed race, which in many ways continues to resonate in ongoing lawfare suits against Trump as the two candidates gear up for a November rematch.
According to a Georgia Recorder report, election board member Ed Lindsey Jr. initiated the motion Tuesday to issue the reprimand and to appoint the monitor for the upcoming election.
“My purpose here is not to let it ride but to move this matter forward so that we can have some assurance regarding the 2024 election,” said Lindsey, a former Republican lawmaker.
Lindsey’s election board colleague Janice Johnston, also a Republican appointee, voted against the motion on the grounds that the investigation did not go far enough, letting Fulton County off the hook too easily.
“With over 140 violations of election laws and rules, it would be a travesty not to refer this to the Attorney General and let this ride,” Johnston noted.
An election integrity group called VoterGA concurred with Johnston, issuing a statement arguing that the state election board failed because it did not refer “the most important case in its history” to state Attorney General Chris Carr for investigation and prosecution.
State Election Board Refuses to Refer 140 Fulton 2020 Violations to Attorney General for Investigation and Prosecution #FIX2020IN2024 #ElectionIntegrity pic.twitter.com/bNXDhgtq0f
— Garland Favorito (@VoterGa) May 9, 2024
According to VoterGA cofounder Garland Favorito, a referral to the AG’s office is “standard practice” in such situations.
He noted that nearly 60,000 ballots were in dispute as part of the underlying complaint from which the violations stemmed.
Charlene McGowan, general counsel for the office of Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, admitted at the hearing that Fulton County may have failed to follow proper procedure.
However, according to VoterGA and other critics, McGowan also concealed some of the most important details.
“As long as we have the paper ballot, we have the paper trail that accurately reports the voter’s choice,” McGowan claimed, adding that county officials “used improper procedures during the recount of the presidential contest.”
But she failed to note that Fulton County officials had refused to let the general public view the ballots.
“Then let’s look at the paper ballots.”
Secretary of State office: “No.”
You can’t say your proof is the paper ballots…and then not show anyone the paper ballots.
Especially when there is no electronic proof (.SHA files) for hundreds of thousands of votes pic.twitter.com/eqrQiwNHIm
— Liz Harrington (@realLizUSA) May 7, 2024
In fact, previous reports suggested that the county may have illegally destroyed some of its paper ballots shortly after the election in spite of—or perhaps because of—concerns that some of the digital images appeared to show double scans of the same ballot or register other irregularities that would potentially invalidate them.
Although the board’s refusal to make the criminal referal likely shut the door on prospects of accountability for bad actors in the last election, hope remained strong that the coming election could right those past wrongs.
Joseph Rossi—one of the two individuals whose complaint triggered the initial investigation—delivered a speech at the hearing slamming Fulton County officials for their failure to run a smooth and secure election and expressed his relief that his efforts were finally vindicated.
"VINDICATED."
Investigator Joseph Rossi unleashes after Fulton County Board finds 2020 election was run ILLEGALLY.
"It has now been factually proven both the HAND AUDIT and the Certified Machine Count were found in violation of Georgia Election Law." 👀pic.twitter.com/D5xTt3orIW
— Kyle Becker (@kylenabecker) May 8, 2024
“It has now been factually proven both the hand audit. . . and the Certified Machine Count were both found to be in violation of Georgia Election Law,” Rossi said.
In addition to Fulton County’s election monitor, the state also issued a raft of reforms strengthening election integrity—three of which were signed into law this week Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp.
BREAKING: Georgia Governor Brian Kemp signed THREE huge election integrity bills into law today. Election fraudster Marc Elias is pissed which means this is great news for election integrity
House Bill 974: Adds watermarks to ballots, displays ballot pictures online, requires… pic.twitter.com/817kwAFm1E
— George (@BehizyTweets) May 8, 2024
The first bill will require that all ballots be watermarked; the second, that election workers be United States citizens; and the third, that QR codes be eliminated from ballots and that procedures be eased to allow for more third-party election oversight.
