Month: July 2024

Note: Advance control in top left to select the 3rd video, State Elections Board 07.09.24

By Field Searcy
July 14, 2024

At the July 9th Georgia State Election Board meeting in Atlanta, election integrity proponents celebrated a notable triumph. The primary room, CAP 341, reached full occupancy, prompting the need for two extra overflow rooms to house people coming from all over Georgia including Savannah and Cairo. More than 50 participants registered to speak during the half-hour public comment period, which the chairman kindly extended to give each person an opportunity to talk.

Dr. Jan Johnston initiated the meeting with a proposal to revisit SEB2023-025, the Rossi/Moncla case, entailing over 140 electoral law breaches in Fulton County during the 2020 election, following an inquiry by the Secretary of State’s office.

During the last SEB meeting in May, the SOS Investigative team suggested sending the case for a criminal investigation to the Attorney General. Dr. Johnston’s proposal to change the voting record for 41,691 ballots that lacked images, tabulator tapes, or were counted twice and send the case to the Attorney General did not receive support. A rebuttal by the complainants was not allowed –– a standard practice for the board in previous cases.  Former board member Ed Lindsey’s later proposal to reprimand Fulton County and set up an independent observer for the November 2024 election was adopted.

Chairman Fervier ruled Dr. Johnston’s motion to reconsider out of order, resulting in a tense exchange. Subsequently, the board entered an Executive Session for potential litigation issues and resumed after half an hour. Upon reconvening, Dr. Johnston managed to pass a motion granting 30 minutes to complainants or their proxies for rebuttals during the public commentary. 

VoterGA’s Garland Favorito and complainants’ attorney Harry McDougal countered, detailing the case and having experts discuss Fulton County’s 2020 election issues with missing ballots, custody processes, and technical errors. Despite board member Sara Ghazal’s diversions, new member Janelle King made relevant inquiries. The board deferred a decision until the August SEB meeting, allowing time to assess the legalities of reopening the case.  A monitoring agreement for Fulton County has not been reached.

Additionally, the board considered two rule making petitions related to bolstering the integrity of elections. The first petition clarified existing rules to ensure uniformity across all 159 counties in releasing election documentation necessary for certifying results, which was approved with a 3-2 vote. The second petition aimed to reinstate the counting of paper ballots from tabulators at precincts on election night, ensuring they tally with the voter count, and this was unanimously passed 4-0.

UPDATE: An emergency meeting was convened late last Friday by the Georgia State Election Board. This came about because the board’s Tuesday’s meeting went into recess without being formally adjourned, creating a risk that actions taken that day might be invalidated. Most matters have been deferred to the August SEB meeting. However, two minor rule modifications were passed to enhance transparency and ensure the uniform application of rules across all counties. These include allowing more poll watchers in central tabulation centers and mandating that all counties publicly display their daily total of voters, for both walk-in and absentee voting, either at the election office entrance or on the county website—a practice many counties already adhere to. The new regulation insists on this course of action for all counties to guarantee uniformity.

Field Searcy is co-founder of GeorgiansForTruth.org, a grassroots volunteer effort to bring election integrity to Georgia. Visit for video from both sessions.