Georgia Republicans moved towards a possible state takeover of Fulton County’s election process this week by requesting a performance review of the top elections officials in the county.
More than a dozen state lawmakers signed a letter seeking an inquiry into Fulton elections chief Richard Barron, who is facing backlash for his handling of the 2020 presidential election.
Just last month, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger accused Barron and other county officials of being “unable to produce all ballot drop box transfer documents.”
Raffensperger also said Fulton County officials had scanned nearly 200 absentee ballots twice, and called on the county to fire Barron and Ralph Jones, Fulton County’s registration chief.
“We’re asking them to simply correct a record they say is easily corrected,” Butch Miller, the state Senate’s Republican president pro tempore, wrote in the letter to Fulton County, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “Is it or isn’t it? The people of Georgia deserve answers.”
Under a Georgia law passed this year, the State Election Board can remove county elections management and take over the process if they find that “nonfeasance, malfeasance, or gross negligence in the administration of the elections” in at least two elections within two years.
Before this can take place, though, two state representatives and two state senators must back the request for a performance review.
The letter sent to Fulton County suggests there is a sufficient support across the legislature if state Republicans do move to take over the county’s election process.
“I support and will be calling for a performance review of the Fulton County Elections Board director because of repeated and systemic elections process failures,” House Speaker Pro-Tempore Jan Jones, a Republican, said in a statement. “This includes an investigation and evaluation of his technical competency and compliance with state law and regulation.”
