Election in Georgia's Fulton County to be observed by independent monitor

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia's Fulton County has hired a team of independent monitors to observe its operations for this year's general election after a selection process that highlighted discord between the deeply Democratic county and a Donald Trump-endorsed majority on the State Election Board.

The monitoring of Fulton's elections was proposed by State Election Board members earlier this year as they discussed a case against the county that included findings of double-scanning of some ballots during an election recount in 2020 that was closed with a reprimand. The county ultimately chose a monitoring proposal opposed by the Republican partisans who have a 3-2 majority on the State Election Board.

The county was within its rights to do that, according to a legal opinion written by state Attorney General Chris Carr and obtained by The Associated Press. Carr wrote that the State Election Board doesn't have the authority to order an election monitor and that Fulton's agreement to propose and pay for a monitoring team was voluntary.

Carr's opinion, dated Aug. 19, cautioned that if the state board failed to approve the monitoring team Fulton had chosen or if the board tried to reopen the 2020 investigation, it “appears highly likely that no monitoring team will be engaged."

Despite Carr's prediction, county commissioners voted 5-2 last week to approve a $99,600 contract proposal from Ryan Germany, a former chief lawyer for the secretary of state's office. The county's Board of Registration and Elections had already signed off on the proposal in July, and last month voted to reaffirm its approval.

“We look forward to working with Fulton County, and we think it shows a commitment to ensuring a well-run election in 2024,” Germany said.

Fulton is the state's most populous county and includes most of the city of Atlanta. It has drawn national scrutiny over the years for problems with its elections, including long lines and slow reporting of results. Then-President Trump zeroed in on the county after he narrowly lost the 2020 presidential election in Georgia to Democrat Joe Biden, claiming without proof that widespread voter fraud in Fulton County had cost him victory.

After a particularly disastrous primary election in 2020, an independent monitor was brought in to examine the county's election practices during the general election as part of an agreement with the State Election Board. He documented “sloppy processes” and “systemic disorganization” but found no evidence of illegality or fraud.

Fulton County's elections have been closely watched since then, and the State Election Board voted last year not to take over the county’s elections after a performance review found the county had shown marked improvement.

This year's monitoring team includes Carter Jones, the independent monitor who oversaw the county's 2020 election, as well as Germany and Matt Mashburn, a former State Election Board member. The Atlanta-based Carter Center, which has monitored elections around the world, also plans to provide extensive help before, during and after the election — including monitoring polling sites and attending poll worker training sessions and equipment testing.

The State Election Board's Republican partisan majority, as well as Republicans on Fulton County’s election board and county commission, all opposed the proposal that the county adopted last week. They argued that the monitoring team is made up of people, like Germany and Jones, who were too closely involved in the 2020 election, which they assert Fulton County botched badly.

The Fulton County election board in July considered two monitoring proposals and voted 3-2 to accept the one proposed by Germany and to reject the other proposal. The two Democrats and the board chair at the time expressed concern that it wasn’t entirely clear who was behind the rejected proposal or what their qualifications were.

At meetings in August, the State Election Board's conservative majority made clear they did not like the proposal the Fulton election board had approved. Later that month, the Fulton County election board met and reaffirmed its vote for the monitoring team proposed by Germany, with commissioners voting to approve the contract days later.

During discussions preceding those votes, Republican members of each panel objected, saying that the county should not move forward on a proposal that the State Election Board had not approved. But Democrats argued that the state board had not provided a written proposal and the monitoring team needed to get to work with the election fast approaching.