Two election workers were fired after allegedly 300 voter registration forms were shredded weeks before the elections in Fulton County, Georgia.
Fulton County’s electoral board fired the two unidentified workers after preliminary investigations found the forms were checked out for processing but were instead shredded.
The board said in a statement that staff may have reviewed stacks of requests for processing and instead shredded the forms.
“Employees reported this behavior to their superiors on Friday morning and the employees were dismissed on the same day,” the statement said.
The staff were referred to the Secretary of State for Investigation and the Fulton County Attorney’s Office.
Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called for an investigation by the US Department of Justice, saying a review of Georgia’s new electoral law could result in a replacement of the leadership in Fulton County’s electoral committee.
Georgia appointed a panel to review Fulton County’s handling of elections after past issues including long lines, reporting problems, and poor management.
“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 a press release on Monday.
“The Justice Department needs to look closely at what Fulton County is doing and how its leadership disenfranchises Fulton voters through incompetence and wrongdoing.”
The shredded forms had been received in the last two weeks leading up to the November 2nd elections for the mayor and councilors.
County spokeswoman Jessica Corbitt told the Associated Press it was unclear whether the 300 voter registration records were lost or whether processing was completed before the paper forms were destroyed.
Georgian law requires that the non-party documents be kept for 24 months after election day.
“Typically, processing a voter registration application involves entering into the state system, updating and verifying their information,” Ms. Corbitt told the AP. “That is the matter that is being investigated – was this process complete.”
Anyone who casts their vote on November 2nd and is not registered will receive a preliminary voting slip.
