Georgia Republicans Take First Step in Takeover of Fulton County Elections
WASHINGTON, D.C. — On Wednesday, the Georgia State Elections Board appointed a three-member panel to review election administration in Fulton County. The panel is required under Georgia’s new election law and is the first step in a potential Republican takeover of the Democratic county’s election administration.
The recently passed law, Senate Bill 202, requires the State Elections Board to appoint a review panel of a county’s election administration if enough lawmakers from the county request it. Republicans in Fulton County requested the review last month. Based on their findings in the review, the Republican-controlled State Elections Board can then take over Fulton County’s election administration by installing a temporary administrator to oversee the process, including the counting of votes.
The panel members chosen to conduct the review by the State Elections Board are bipartisan — one Democrat, one Republican and one lawyer from the secretary of state’s office. The sole Democratic member of the State Election Board said, however, that despite this, the panel “is going to be under tremendous political pressure on both sides to come to preordained conclusions.”