The political battle over Fulton County’s election board has reached a brand new and unprecedented stage after Republicans requested that Democrats be imprisoned for trying to keep up election integrity.
This week, the Fulton County Republican Get together filed motions in state courtroom demanding civil and felony contempt expenses in opposition to two Democratic members of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Dana Barrett and Mo Ivory, who defied a courtroom order Wednesday by voting in opposition to appointing Republican nominees Julie Adams and Jason Frazier to the board of elections. The three different Democratic commissioners — Robb Pitts, Marvin Arrington, Jr., and Khadijah Abdur-Rahman — weren’t current for the vote, leading to a dramatic 2-2 vote, which means Adams’ and Frazier’s appointment failed.
Previous to the assembly, Barrett shared with the press that she was planning to vote in opposition to the appointments regardless of the courtroom order.
“I’m a no and can threat contempt expenses and fines or jail to defend democracy,” Barrett wrote.
The transfer immediately defied an earlier ruling from Senior Decide David Emerson, who ordered the commissioners earlier this month to seat Adams and Frazier at their subsequent assembly. The courtroom’s ruling got here after the Fulton County GOP sued, arguing state legislation requires commissioners to nominate nominees put forth by the county’s Republican and Democratic events.
For violating that order, the GOP is now asking the courtroom to impose harsh penalties, together with fines of as much as $1,000 per day and jail time of as much as 20 days for all 5 Democratic commissioners.
“A Petition for Contempt of Decide Emerson’s Order needs to be filed instantly and I hope the Decide will think about not solely a wonderful however jail time for the illegal defiance of a lawful courtroom order,” Josh McKoon, chairman of the Georgia Republican Get together, wrote on X.
In a assertion, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffesperger (R) known as the board’s vote “reckless” and stated they have to observe the courtroom order, however stopped wanting calling for a wonderful or jail time.
“The actions of the commissioners undermine belief in authorities,” Raffensperger stated. “I name on the Fulton Fee to observe the rule of legislation and appoint all bipartisan appointees, not simply those they like.”
“I believe it’s outrageous for them to ask for jail time and felony expenses, given the actual fact that there’s a legislation in Georgia that no elected official might be compelled to vote in any explicit manner,” Barrett informed Democracy Docket. She added that she is “ready to combat” alongside Ivory because the authorized battle escalates.
The controversy started after a state courtroom discovered that the Board of Commissioners didn’t have the authority to reject Adams and Frazier, who each have lengthy information tied to election denialism and voter suppression in Georgia, and ordered it to nominate the duo to the county board of elections throughout its subsequent assembly.
Adams, who beforehand served on the board of elections, refused to certify Fulton County’s 2024 major outcomes, citing baseless claims of irregularities. She has ties to the Election Integrity Community, a bunch led by right-wing lawyer Cleta Mitchell, and to the Tea Get together Patriots.
Frazier, in the meantime, has made his title exploiting Georgia’s permissive mass voter problem legislation. He claims to have efficiently challenged over 25,000 voters’ eligibility and filed a lawsuit in August 2024, accusing the board of failing to correctly preserve voter rolls. That lawsuit was later voluntarily dismissed.
Throughout Wednesday’s board assembly, each Barrett and Ivory delivered impassioned speeches in opposition to appointing Adams and Frazier, who each have wealthy histories of election denialism and voter suppression within the Peach State.
“They’re election deniers and so they’re doing every part they’ll to undermine religion in our elections,” Barrett stated earlier than casting her vote. Ivory added, “It’s not about partisan politics, it’s about guaranteeing our Board of Elections are held to the very best stage of accountability, and that our elections are honest.”
The boiling level of Wednesday’s standoff was months within the making. In Might, the Board of Commissioners voted to reject Adams and Frazier, citing considerations about their information. Republicans sued in June, and by early August, Decide Emerson dominated that the commissioners lacked the discretion to reject certified nominees. In his order, he wrote that the legislation requires the commissioners to nominate the names submitted by the county events, making clear that “shall” within the statute is obligatory, not non-compulsory.
The Board of Commissioners rapidly appealed however was denied a keep that might have allowed them to delay the appointments, leaving Barrett and Ivory to take a stand, even underneath the specter of authorized penalties.
Their colleagues expressed comparable frustrations with the courtroom’s ruling. Commissioner Arrington argued the choice stripped commissioners of their discretion, saying it reduces them to “record-keepers” as a substitute of elected leaders entrusted with judgment.
The battle in Fulton County displays the broader nationwide combat over election administration and the lingering affect of Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud in 2020 and his continued effort to thwart the 2026 midterm elections to safe management for the GOP to remain in energy.
Trump and his supporters zeroed in on Fulton County within the wake of the 2020 common election, claiming with out proof that election fraud had price him victory in Georgia. Native, state, and federal officers have repeatedly stated there’s no proof that fraud affected the end result of that election, however conspiracy theories proceed to flow into and are used as an excuse for his continued struggle on democracy.
Election displays deployed in each 2020 and 2022 concluded that, whereas Fulton’s elections suffered from administrative points reminiscent of lengthy strains and reporting delays, there was no proof of fraud. Nonetheless, figures like Adams and Frazier proceed to amplify false narratives that undermine voter confidence.
What occurs subsequent will depend upon the courts. For now, Barrett and Ivory stay defiant, and the Fulton County GOP is demanding their punishment. However as this authorized saga performs out, one factor is obvious: the combat for management over election boards in Georgia is now not only a procedural dispute; it has grow to be a battleground for the very integrity of democracy itself.
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