A new investigation into the handling of ballots in Fulton County, Georgia, during the 2020 election has added fresh fuel to the national debate over the need for voting reform.
Georgia’s secretary of state announced on Monday that his office had opened a review of allegations that key documents related to ballot drop boxes in Fulton County had gone missing, prompting a victory lap from some conservatives who have long promoted conspiracy theories about voter fraud in Georgia.
“New revelations that Fulton County is unable to produce all ballot drop box transfer documents will be investigated thoroughly, as we have with other counties that failed to follow Georgia rules and regulations regarding drop boxes,” Brad Raffensperger said Monday. “This cannot continue.”
GEORGIA INVESTIGATING FULTON COUNTY DROP BOX FORMS FROM 2020 ELECTION
Georgia allowed the use of ballot drop boxes for the first time in 2020 in order to accommodate public health concerns amid the pandemic. Republican state lawmakers included a permanent authorization for drop boxes in the election reform bill they passed earlier this year; however, Democrats were unhappy with the provision because it reduced the number of boxes permitted from the 2020 levels.
According to the rules governing the emergency use of drop boxes in the last election, anyone collecting ballots from boxes “shall complete and sign a ballot transfer form upon removing the ballots from the drop box, which shall include the date, time, location and number of ballots.”
But Fulton County officials admitted, in response to a public records request, that some of the forms documenting when and how many ballots were removed from various drop boxes had been “misplaced,” prompting the secretary of state’s office to open its investigation.
A person familiar with the situation said the Fulton County inquiry is not criminal in nature because the alleged offense would violate only the State Election Board’s rules, but noted the investigation could strengthen the case for forcing out county officials who have long struggled with election issues.
Under the new Georgia voting law, the State Election Board can remove and replace a county-level election board if it has failed to follow the rules for two election cycles without addressing the issues. The person noted Fulton County has been plagued with problems for far longer than two cycles.
The investigation is a significant step from an official who has vehemently denied any evidence of fraud or improper election administration since former President Donald Trump took aim at Georgia. Raffensperger rebuffed Trump’s unfounded attacks on how his state handled ballots and even weathered personal barbs from Trump.
But it could also be a boon to Republicans arguing in favor of tightening election laws across the country in the name of security. Democrats have sought to portray state-level reforms, such as those passed over their bitter objections in Georgia this spring, as attempts to suppress minority votes.
GOP lawmakers have, in many cases, framed their reforms as necessary steps to impose uniformity across counties in states where chaos and delays followed the adoption of pandemic-era voting practices.
In Iowa, for example, Republicans defended a law Democrats had characterized as restrictive by stressing that the law was simply intended to offer “consistent parameters for Election Day.”
Texas Republicans have pushed back against criticism for their election reform bill, which Democrats successfully blocked earlier this month, in part by noting that some blue counties in the state allowed different kinds of voting, such as drive-thru voting and 24-hour early voting, that were not available everywhere.
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Their bill also would have required video surveillance for all areas where ballots are stored in counties with more than 100,000 residents, as well as more monitoring and documentation of the chain of custody of ballots.
Advocates of election integrity measures argue that chain of custody rules are important to ensure all ballots are accounted for when counting begins and to protect against fraud.
There has been no evidence of widespread fraud in Georgia or elsewhere during the 2020 election.
Democrats on Capitol Hill, meanwhile, are pushing an election overhaul, a bill known as S. 1, that would strip out many of the protections state-level Republicans are currently pursuing.
