Fulton County Refuses To Allow Poll Watchers To Supervise Late Ballot Arrivals
Election officials in the deep blue stronghold of Fulton County, Georgia are refusing to allow poll watchers to supervise the counting of newly-arrived mail-in ballots. Even though Georgia’s early voting deadline was November 1, several counties across the state have extended the deadline throughout the weekend. Georgia Republicans have accused election officials of “illegally” accepting ballots in flagrant violation of state law.
“It has come to our attention that Fulton County election officials are planning to open four election offices this weekend ‘to accommodate voters seeking to hand-return their absentee ballots.’ This is a blatant violation of Georgia law, subsection (d) of Code Section 21-2-385, O.C.G.A. § 21-2-382 which states ‘all drop boxes shall be closed when the advance voting period ends,’” Georgia Republicans announced in a press release Friday.
“This must be stopped immediately and those willfully breaking Georgia law should be held accountable. To make matters worse, the four election office locations are situated in areas of the county that will clearly favor Democrat candidates,” the release continued. “We are calling on state officials to take immediate action to stop this and maintain confidence in Georgia’s election integrity. Fulton County’s patently illegal acts give us no choice but to immediately file suit.”
During an appearance on Steve Bannon’s War Room, Cleta Mitchell, a Senior Legal Fellow at the Conservative Partnership Institute, reported that Republicans were unsuccessful in their bid to stop the extended deadline. The ruling comes just a day after Judge Kevin Farmer refused to authorize additional poll workers after Republicans raised concerns. According to the complaint, nine out of 45 qualified workers were hired to assist with early voting, while just six of 62 were hired for Election Day, according to a report from Fox News.
“Did we win the hearing in Fulton County? Are they shutting down those extra hours to drop off the ballots or not?” Bannon asked.
“No, we did not,” Mitchell replied. “We have a Democrat judge who is the same judge that ruled yesterday that uh, the Republican Party sued because Fulton County only hired one percent republican poll workers, 99 percent Democrats. He denied that,” she continued.
Mitchell further noted that the judge did not authorize any additional ballot drop boxes. “We did get him to say that there would be no drop boxes. But when the Republican attorney tried to say, ‘well, make sure we can have observers,’ he said, ‘well, of course we can get observers. Of course.’ I just saw a notice that was sent around by the election office to all the offices saying no poll observers do not let them in,” she said.
BREAKING NEWS: REPUBLICANS DID NOT WIN THE HEARING IN FULTON COUNTY TO SHUT DOWN EXTRA HOURS TO DROP OFF THE BALLOTS! @CletaMitchell @Bannons_WarRoom pic.twitter.com/etZAECLyCC
— Real America’s Voice (RAV) (@RealAmVoice) November 2, 2024
An email reportedly sent by Fulton County Registration Manager Kathryn Glenn appears to confirm Mitchell’s reporting. “FYI – There are NO WATCHERS approved for ballot drop off! Do not let them in the building,” reads the email, which was sent to Fulton County election officials. “If they want to observe from the parking lot, you can’t stop that but they are not allowed to sit in the building. Have your security detail enforce it!!”
In response to the email, Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon condemned the “blatant violation of Georgia poll watching law.”
“Emboldened by the failure of our judicial branch to stop their changing election rules days before Election Day, Georgia Democrats and their allies in Fulton County are banning poll watchers from observing their ‘special’ weekend operations to try to bank more Democrat absentee ballots,” McKoon wrote in a statement.
“We all know what is going on — Democrats are panicked by the incredible Republican turnout in early voting and will do anything to try to catch up even if it means doing it under the cover of darkness and stiff arming any independent observation of whatever the hell is going on in their four ‘special voting locations’ open today with no notice or approval by anyone authorized to oversee elections administration,” the statement continued.
“Georgia Republicans are calling on our elected officials and elections administrators to stop this madness which is doing incalculable and irreversible damage to confidence in this election.”
