As votes were about to be counted on election night, a Republican faction of the State Election Board delivered a demand to Fulton County for documents as part of its ongoing investigation of the 2020 election.
The subpoenas seek troves of documents in the board’s multiyear effort to find wrongdoing in the 2020 presidential vote count, when Democrat Joe Biden narrowly defeated Republican Donald Trump.
The State Election Board previously reprimanded Fulton in May for double-scanning at least 3,000 ballots during a recount of the 2020 election. But Fulton’s critics want more answers into how the error occurred, and the board revived its inquiry after a right-wing majority took control this summer.
The subpoenas say that records must be delivered to Janice Johnston, one of three board members praised by Trump during a campaign rally, rather than the board’s chairman, John Fervier, an appointee of Republican Gov. Brian Kemp who opposed reviving the inquiry.
The Atlanta Journal-Constitution obtained the subpoenas through the Georgia Open Records Act.
Jason Getz/AJC
Jason Getz/AJC
“The fact that the above parties were served at around 6 p.m. on Election Day, a mere hour prior to the polls closing and returns coming in, is in my opinion, a poor decision and a bad reflection on the State Election Board,” Fervier wrote in an email to the board. “It is also concerning that multiple members of this board, including myself, were not informed of the subpoenas going out on Election Day, nor have we been copied on the subpoenas.”
Johnston, who was elected as the board’s vice chair last month, didn’t return a message seeking comment Friday.
State Election Board Executive Director Mike Coan said the board waited until late on Election Day to deliver the subpoenas to avoid creating a disruption.
Coan said Fervier was intentionally left out of the subpoena decision.
“Obviously, he has been the chief opponent to anything regarding anything to do with investigations in Fulton County,” Coan said. “I would expect blocking and obstruction that we’ve seen before.”
The board voted to issue the subpoenas last month, and Johnston said at the time that she will decide on further action depending on how Fulton responds. The documents are due by Nov. 18, the date of the board’s next planned meeting.
Fulton Election Board Chair Sherri Allen said she and county attorneys will review the subpoenas and respond appropriately.
“It didn’t bother me at all” that the subpoenas came on election night, Allen said. “No one interrupted what I was doing. It was handed to me by someone from the staff. It didn’t faze me in the least.”
Unlike in 2020, there was little controversy over this year’s election in Fulton, which officials and observers said appeared to be efficient and organized.
The subpoenas are the latest development in the board’s scrutiny of Fulton for its 2020 election performance.
State investigations, a manual audit and a machine recount of Fulton’s 2020 election results showed errors in the results, but none were large enough to change the outcome of the election or indicate election fraud.
In the recount that included the double-scanned ballots, the overall results in Fulton County were similar to the initial count, with Biden winning about 73% of Fulton’s votes. Trump gained 939 net votes against Biden during the recount.
The subpoenas are seeking a slew of 2020 documents, including lists of voters, chain-of-custody forms, ballot images, documentation of security seals and ballot scanner paperwork.
A day before the State Election Board approved the subpoenas, Fulton County filed a lawsuit to prevent the board from appointing election skeptics to a team of independent monitors already hired by the county to oversee the 2024 election. The lawsuit is still pending.
The monitors wrote in an interim report that this year’s election was “organized” and “orderly,” and they are continuing to observe Fulton’s performance as it verifies vote totals. A final report will be issued afterward.
