According to a statement released by the county on Monday, officials in Georgia’s most populous county, where the state is already scrutinizing voting operations, sacked two workers accused of destroying paper applications for voter registration.
Preliminary information suggests staff reviewed stacks of applications for processing and allegedly shredded some of the forms, the Fulton County statement said. Colleagues reported the alleged acts to their manager on Friday morning, and the two employees were fired that day.
In the communication from the district it is said that the applications had been received in the last two weeks. Fulton County encompasses most of the city of Atlanta, where voters will vote on November 2nd to elect a mayor, councilors, and other community officials. The deadline to register for this election was October 4th.
It was not immediately clear whether the 300 voter registration records in question had been lost, said district spokeswoman Jessica Corbitt.
“Typically, processing a voter registration application involves entering into the state system, updating and verifying their information,” she said. “That is the matter that is being investigated – was this process complete.”
In Georgia, voters do not register by party, so the applications had no party affiliation.
Fulton County’s Director of Registration and Elections, Rick Barron, reported the allegations to the State Department’s Investigation Bureau.
“Fulton County called the State Department. We told them about it and asked them to investigate,” Corbitt said.
Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts also reported the matter to District Attorney Fani Willis for investigation.
“Elections are the most important function of our government,” Pitts said in the statement. “We are committed to transparency and integrity.”
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, a Republican who has long criticized the electoral process in the heavily Democratic county, said in a press release that his office had opened an investigation and asked the US Department of Justice to investigate the county elections .
“After 20 years of documented failure in the Fulton County elections, Georgians are tired of waiting to see what the next embarrassing revelation will be,” Raffensperger said in the press release. “The Department of Justice needs to look closely at what Fulton County is doing and how its leadership disenfranchises Fulton voters through incompetence and wrongdoing. Georgia voters are fed up with Fulton County’s failures. “
Fulton County has a history of election issues including long lines, inefficiency in reporting election results, and other issues. The June 2020 primaries were particularly problematic, and the state election committee finalized a consent order with the county that included the appointment of an independent observer for the general election. The county has also taken numerous steps to ensure that it runs smoothly in November.
Observer Carter Jones, who had previous experience with elections in other parts of the world, watched the county’s electoral process from October through January and said he saw sloppy practices and poor management but no evidence of “dishonesty, fraud or willful misconduct. “
Georgia’s State Election Board appointed a review panel in August to investigate Fulton County’s handling of elections following requests from Republican lawmakers representing the county. Legislature used a controversial provision of the state’s sweeping new electoral law to spark a process that could ultimately lead to the county elections taking over.
Any Fulton County resident who attempts to vote in an upcoming election and is found unregistered can vote on a preliminary ballot and an investigation will follow, the county statement said.
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