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Last September, I requested that the Fulton County Auditor conduct an audit and review of the Fulton County Elections Absentee Ballot process. During the Fall municipal elections as well as the March Presidential Preference Primary the Auditor reviewed various steps of the absentee process to determine alignment with state law and State Election Board rules. At our June 26th meeting, the Auditor presented his findings. I think it is important that I share with you the reasons why I requested the audit in the first place as well as some of the more significant findings.
As you are likely aware, Fulton County has remained in the news for over a decade for the poor management of its elections. This became national news in 2020 when numerous concerns were raised by candidates, election workers (such as me), and the public at large. To-date, many of the questions raised remain unanswered. The absentee ballot process, from start to finish, is of extreme concern given that it is highly susceptible to mismanagement. Various outside observers have identified problems in the process in the past, and I felt it was important to see where things stand today.
Perhaps the most significant concern raised in the audit is the lack of clear and consistent standard operating procedures. Standard operating procedures are critical for any organization, and this is especially true for Fulton County Elections. Having clear procedures not only informs employees how to run elections, but it also provides an easy accountability measure to know when things are being done correctly and just as importantly when they are being done incorrectly. I have been drawing attention to the lack of clear standard operating procedures since 2020, and I was glad to read the Auditor identifying that as a clear concern.
There were various reasons for calling of an audit of the absentee process in preparation for the upcoming November election. First, the SOS Auditor in 2020, expressed that there many concerns in the processing of the 147,000 absentee ballots. There appeared to be poor batch management, security and lack of chain of custody. Absentee ballots kept coming in days after the election. Numerous poll watchers complained that they were not given the opportunity for meaningful observation and overseas ballots were duplicated by election workers without oversight.
We also now know that the law to use signature verification to validate the acceptance of absentee ballots was ignored. (Hence, the legislature passed SB202 to require drivers license or government ID to verification to replace signature verification.)
Then last summer, Fulton County Elections had to sign a Consent Order relating to the incorrect processing of absentee ballots in the hand recount. SEB2021-181 found that absentee ballots had been double scanned and election workers falsified tally sheets. As a result, 6,695 false votes/ballots were added to the election total. 4,583 of those votes/ballots favored Biden. These errors were also pointed out in case SEB2023-025 that points to numerous errors across the entire 2020 election. In an attempt, to resolve this case, Fulton County Board of Commissioners recently approved spending nearly $100,000 for monitors (I did not approve). The State Election Board has not approved these monitors and it is very likely they will also have their monitoring team. SEB2023-025 needs to be investigated to determine what went wrong, then monitors can know the areas that need to be closely monitored.
We have a significant election coming in November, and it is a top priority that we get it right. Every person deserves to have their voice heard at the ballot box, and that only happens when the process is correct. Double scanning of ballots, falsified tally sheets, missing boxes, and any number of other problems all serve to disenfranchise voters. ONE person = ONE vote is critical, and we must work hard to defend it. My goal is that every Fulton County voter can trust that their vote is counted correctly.
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