Fulton County sues State Election Board over 'election denier' monitors

Fulton County at odds against State Election Board

The Fulton County Board of Elections Thursday heard from the managers of the controversial election monitors who will observe the contentious 2024 election in Georgia. In a bold move, the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections sued the state board over its insistence that its elections be monitored by so call election deniers who support former President Donald Trump.

The Brief

- The Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections has sued the state board for wanting its elections monitored by individuals deemed to be election deniers.
- There is contention between the Fulton County Elections Board and the State Elections Board as early voting approaches at the C.T. Martin Center.
- Disagreements have arisen within the Fulton County Elections Board regarding a lawsuit about election monitoring, with some Republican members unaware of the suit until after its filing.
- Public concern has been voiced both in support of sticking to the original monitoring agreement and criticizing unilateral actions which could jeopardize legal standing.
- A team of election monitors has been established for the 2024 election with 70 monitors for early voting, 150 for Election Day, and will be submitting bi-weekly reports of their findings.

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - The Fulton County Board of Elections heard from the managers of the controversial election monitors who will observe the contentious 2024 election in Georgia.

In a bold move, the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections sued the state board over its insistence that its elections be monitored by so-called election deniers who support former President Donald Trump.

Early voting gets underway here at the C.T. Martin Center next week, but the Fulton County Elections Board and the State Elections Board are still very much at odds.

"We can discuss how we got here, or will we discuss the merits of the lawsuit?" GOP board member Julie Adams asked.

The Republicans and Democrats on the Fulton County Elections Board sparred over a lawsuit filed Monday by that same board.

The problem is the Republicans said they knew nothing about the lawsuit until after the filing.

Members of the public sounded off as well.

"I would like to urge the board to hold firm to Fulton County agreement with the monitor team, and fully reject any attempts from the state election board or bad actors to force challenges, changes, or additions to the team," voter Marisa Pyle of All Voting is Local exclaimed.

"Seems that Ms. Allen has made a singular rogue decision to sue the state election board without consulting the other four members? That is preposterous and puts your law license in jeopardy," voter Mara Gaudio replied.

Fulton County appointed and heard from a monitoring team led by Ryan Germany, former general counsel for Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. But Trump-aligned members of the state board, who are at odds with Raffensperger over his handling of the 2020 election, want to add their deniers to Germany’s team.

Germany has support from Jonathan Stonestreet of the Carter Center.

They have already identified 70 monitors for early voting and 150 for Election Day.

"We are preparing for the observation of in person voting and two, we are observing the pre-election process," Ryan Germany said.

Board members asked Germany to send them a bi-weekly report of what his monitors find. He agreed.

Early voting begins Tuesday in all 177 voting sites for Fulton County.