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Nathan Lane and Tim Reid
(Reuters)-Georgia Republicans triggered a formal review of election officials in Fulton County on Friday. Fulton County is the home base of the Democratic Party including Atlanta. This is a state that could lead to their removal and allow Republican control. The legislature controls the first step in the electoral process. Local election activities.
The Republican House of Representatives in Fulton County issued a letter calling for a performance evaluation of election officials in the county. Democratic President Joe Biden’s victory in the 2020 election prompted him to unexpectedly defeat former President Donald T. Rumpu.
After a similar request from state senators this week, the letter initiated a formal review under a comprehensive new voting law passed by state Republicans in March. In addition to the new ballot restrictions, the law also grants the legislature more control over the state election commission, while giving the commission the power to suspend county officials due to poor performance or violation of election codes.
Republicans said that Fulton County has long mismanaged the elections and requested a review to ensure “voters’ confidence in our election.”
Robert Pitts, chairman of the Fulton County Committee, did not respond to telephone and e-mail inquiries from Reuters. On Thursday, he wrote to the Georgia Democrats, stating that he was “worried” that the review was for “political reasons” and questioned its legitimacy.
The Georgia Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has repeatedly insisted that the 2020 election results in Georgia are accurate. Nevertheless, Ravensberg joined other Republicans in calling for a review of the Fulton County election process.
Democrats, voting rights groups and non-partisan experts said the move was part of Republicans’ efforts to control the state’s most important local election commission-Fulton is the largest county in Georgia, accounting for 10% of its population.
They also stated that this is the first example of Republicans actively trying to control the Election Committee, which may become a role model for Republicans across the country in the states they control.
According to Georgia’s new voting law, if the State Election Commission finds “electoral management inaction, malfeasance, or gross negligence” in at least two elections within two years, the State Election Commission can remove county election officials after review.
Rebecca Sullivan, the acting chairman of the State Election Commission and Republican, said that the request for a performance review of Fulton County may be discussed at the next meeting of the committee on August 18.
The review was conducted at a time when Trump continued to falsely claim that the 2020 election was stolen due to large-scale voter fraud. In Georgia, where Biden won with approximately 12,000 votes, two recounts of the 2020 elections led by the Republican Party found no evidence of widespread fraud.
Edward B. Foley, an expert on constitution and elections at Ohio State University, said it is deeply disturbing to let the party legislature take over the operation of local elections. The local election commission usually counts the votes and then sends the number of votes to the central state database.
“This is a wake-up call-it can lead to the corruption of procedures and the destruction of the will of the people,” Foley said.
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