Ahead of 2026, Georgia Republicans Are Quietly Installing Election Conspiracy Theorists on Local Boards
Republicans are already laying the foundation to undermine a fair 2026 midterm election in Georgia, where they’re working to install voting skeptics on local election boards.
One of the DeKalb County GOP’s two nominees for the local election board has a record of lodging mass voter challenges that is alarming voting advocates. The other had his nomination rejected by an administrative judge, based on his public statements about the board and a lawsuit he filed against it.
And in Fulton County, the Republican party is suing officials who rejected their two nominees. One nominee, already a board member, has refused to certify election results, while the other has sued the board over a dispute stemming from challenges he made to voters’ eligibility.
Fulton County is Georgia’s largest county, and DeKalb is its fourth largest. The two majority-Black counties are home to hundreds of thousands of Democratic voters in the Atlanta area. President Donald Trump narrowly won Georgia in the 2024 presidential election with 50.7% of the vote, but former Vice President Kamala Harris won 71.9% of the vote in Fulton County and 81.9% in DeKalb County. Installing conspiracy theorists on local boards in these counties could help the GOP suppress Democratic turnout in 2026.
Republicans nominated Bill Henderson and Gail Lee to serve on the DeKalb County Board of Registration and Elections, but Chief and Administrative Judge Shondeana Morris rejected Henderson’s appointment, partly due to the fact that he is suing the board for its refusal to consider voter challenges he filed.
“Having considered all those things, I do not believe that appointing Mr. Henderson to the Board would further the goals of ensuring that elections are credible and trustworthy in the eyes of the public. Rather, I am concerned that his appointment would do the opposite, as he has already sought to do through his public statements in the past,” Morris wrote in a letter posted by the DeKalb County GOP on social media.
Voting advocates are raising the alarm about Lee, as well. Shortly before the 2024 election, Lee challenged more than 200 voter registrations, arguing the residents were registered in more than one state. The DeKalb board narrowly voted not to pursue her claim because it was too close to the election.
One voter whose voter registration address was challenged by Lee the previous year told CBS News, “I didn’t know Gail Lee from a can of paint.”
DeKalb County Democrats organized against the nominations, urging members to contact officials and share their opposition to appointing board members with a “consistent history of frivolous voter challenges.”
“Putting a known election denier who has repeatedly tried to remove voters from the rolls on the Dekalb County elections board is a slap in the face to Dekalb voters,” All Voting is Local Action Georgia state director Kristin Nabers said in a statement about Lee.
“Those who repeatedly push lies about voting and support dangerous attempts to overturn the results should have no say over our elections,” Nabers continued.
In neighboring Fulton County, the local Republican party filed a lawsuit this month arguing the county’s board of commissioners violated state law by rejecting their nominees.
The party sought to reappoint Julie Adams and add right-wing activist Jason Frazier. Adams refused to certify last year’s primary election results. She also has ties to the far-right Election Integrity Network, while Frazier has challenged voter registrations in Fulton County and sued the board last year over its response to his challenges.
“It’s not possible to work with folks trying to sow discord and chaos,” Commissioner Mo Ivory said before voting to reject Adams’ reappointment.
However, the GOP insists its nominees meet the specified qualifications and therefore must be approved by the board.
“Laws are meaningless in Fulton!” Frazier posted on social media after his appointment was rejected. “We “Shall” not give up!”