Fulton County, Georgia approved a monitoring team to oversee its elections after the state found the county violated election laws in 2020. But some state and county officials told The Federalist they’re skeptical about the county’s electoral integrity even with the monitoring team.
In May, after reviewing allegations made in a complaint filed by Kevin Moncla and Joseph Rossi, the State Election Board (SEB) found Fulton County had broken the law by scanning more than 3,000 ballots twice during a recount of the 2020 presidential election. (Fulton County was also previously “reprimanded” by the SEB for its election administration, having failed to count 1,326 votes during the 2022 primary, according to the Atlanta Journal-Constitution.)
As a result of this finding in May, the board ruled 2-1 to “issue a letter of reprimand to Fulton County, and enter a memorandum of understanding between Fulton County, the Office of the Secretary of State, and the State Election Board, outlining a mutually agreeable monitor for the 2024 election cycle by the next hearing,” as noted in the May 7 meeting minutes. However, “[s]hould an agreeable monitor not be reached by the next scheduled Board meeting, a motion will be presented to refer the case to the Attorney General’s office,” as noted in the minutes.
The SEB did not reach an agreement regarding the monitoring team by the July meeting, as indicated in internal emails obtained by The Federalist. Internal emails also show the SEB was prepared to refer the complaint to the attorney general for investigation if a monitoring
