Fulton GOP Asks Judge to Imprison Dems Who Blocked Appointment of Election Deniers

Republicans in Georgia’s biggest county asked a state court to hold Democrats in contempt of court for blocking the appointment of two election deniers to the board of elections. 

Dana Barrett and Mo Ivory, two Democratic members of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, defied a court order Wednesday and voted against appointing Republican nominees Julie Adams and Jason Frazier to the board of elections. The three other Democratic commissioners — Robb Pitts, Marvin Arrington, Jr. and Khadijah Abdur-Rahman — were not present for the vote, meaning Adams’ and Frazier’s appointment failed in a 2-2 vote. 

For violating the court order, the Fulton County GOP asked the court to hold all five Democratic members in civil and criminal contempt with fines up to $1,000 a day and up to 20 days of imprisonment. 

“I think it is outrageous for them to ask for jail time and criminal charges, given the fact that there is a law in Georgia that no elected official can be compelled to vote in any particular way,” Barrett told Democracy Docket.

Barrett told Democracy Docket she’s “prepared to fight” the Fulton GOP’s attempt to hold her and her colleagues in contempt, and is in close contact with Ivory about the next steps in the developing saga.

At the beginning of August, a state court found that the Board of Commissioners did not have the authority to reject Adams and Frazier and ordered it to appoint the duo to the county board of elections during its next meeting. 

The Board of Commissioners appealed the court’s ruling, but their request to temporarily pause the order was denied.

During Wednesday’s board meeting, both Barrett and Ivory delivered impassioned speeches against appointing Adams and Frazier, who both have rich histories of election denialism and voter suppression in the Peach State. 

Adams previously served on the board of elections and refused to certify the county’s 2024 primary election results, raising baseless doubts about the vote’s legitimacy. Adams also has ties to the Cleta-Mitchell-led Election Integrity Network (EIN) and the right-wing Tea Party Patriots. 

Frazier, meanwhile, is known for taking advantage of a state law that makes it easy to make mass voter challenges, and claims to have successfully challenged over 25,000 would-be voters. In August 2024, he filed a lawsuit against the election board, falsely claiming that they failed to properly maintain the county’s voter rolls and respond to voter challenges. The lawsuit was voluntarily dismissed a month later.

“It’s not about partisan politics, it is about ensuring our Board of Elections are held to the highest level of accountability, and that our elections are fair,” Ivory said Wednesday before she voted to block Adams’ and Frazier’s appointments.

“They’re election deniers and they’re doing everything they can to undermine faith in our elections,” Barrett said before casting her vote.