Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley announced that poll watchers will now be allowed inside Georgia counting centers after previously being told otherwise. Republicans are currently launching multiple legal challenges after a number of Georgia counties announced that they would continue to accept early ballots after the November 1 deadline.
After election officials in a number of blue strongholds, including Fulton County, announced that polling locations would remain open throughout the weekend, Georgia Republicans accused them of “illegally” accepting ballots in violation of Georgia election law.
“It has come to our attention that Fulton County election officials are planning to open four election offices this weekend ‘to accommodate voters seeking to hand-return their absentee ballots.’ This is a blatant violation of Georgia law, subsection (d) of Code Section 21-2-385, O.C.G.A. § 21-2-382 which states ‘all drop boxes shall be closed when the advance voting period ends,’” Georgia Republicans announced in a press release Friday.
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“This must be stopped immediately and those willfully breaking Georgia law should be held accountable. To make matters worse, the four election office locations are situated in areas of the county that will clearly favor Democrat candidates,” the release continued. “We are calling on state officials to take immediate action to stop this and maintain confidence in Georgia’s election integrity. Fulton County’s patently illegal acts give us no choice but to immediately file suit.”
On Saturday morning, Fulton County Registration Manager Kathryn Glenn told county officials that poll watchers will not be allowed to supervise the arrival of new mail-in ballots. “FYI – There are NO WATCHERS approved for ballot drop off! Do not let them in the building,” reads the email, which was sent to Fulton County election officials. “If they want to observe from the parking lot, you can’t stop that but they are not allowed to sit in the building. Have your security detail enforce it!!”
Republicans at the state and national level soon filed challenges and urged Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Republican Governor Brian Kemp to take action. Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Whatley accused Democrat officials in blue strongholds of “playing fast and loose” with Georgia election laws and announced that the RNC will be filing a lawsuit.
A few hours later, poll watchers were able to gain entry to the affected locations.“I have been apprised that after refusing to admit our poll watchers that Fulton County and other counties are now allowing our poll watchers to observe the voting activity occurring today,” Georgia Republican Party Chairman Josh McKoon announced in an X post.
He further noted that the issue of the extended early voting deadline is being litigated further. “It is unacceptable that the decision was made to open these locations without notice or authorization from any party charged with elections administration. Our legal team is evaluating our next steps with regard to today’s decision allowing this activity in the first place,” the statement continued.
Whatley further confirmed that poll workers have gained access to the Fulton County locations in an X post of his own. “Our lawsuit over the offices remaining open is still pending, but we have eyes in the room as votes are being counted,” he said. “We will continue our aggressive efforts to enforce Georgia law and protect the vote.”
Georgia State Senator Greg Dolezal previously reported that he was in contact with Raffensperger’s office in order to get poll watchers inside the affected locations. In a follow-up post, he confirmed that two of his Senate colleagues were monitoring one of the locations, while Dolezal was in transit to another location in order to “get eyes on the situation” himself.
“Fulton needs to be held accountable for once again making up rules as they go,” Dolezal wrote in an X post. “The GOP is in court right now seeking an order to sequester these ballots until their appeal is heard.”
Secretary of State Raffensperger soon announced that while he was pleased with the developments in Fulton County, “we are concerned that this was ever a question in the first place.”
“The eyes of the world are on Fulton County. Local officials must ensure that every process from now until election day and after is transparent and in accordance with Georgia law, given the history of controversy in the county’s election administration,” he continued.
…The eyes of the world are on Fulton County. Local officials must ensure that every process from now until election day and after is transparent and in accordance with Georgia law, given the history of controversy in the county’s election administration. (2/2)
— GA Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (@GaSecofState) November 2, 2024
Georgia is widely viewed as a must-win swing state for the Trump-Vance Campaign. President Biden was able to narrowly win the state by less than 12,000 votes in 2020, thanks largely to the high volume of mail-in ballots in Democrat strongholds.
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