Fulton County has brought in a team of independent monitors to oversee its operations for this year’s general election. The State Election Board had proposed the monitoring in response to issues found in the county’s 2020 recount, which included double-scanning of ballots. The county moved forward with its own monitoring proposal, a move opposed by the board’s Republican members.
Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr confirmed the county’s right to select its own monitors in an opinion, emphasizing that the State Election Board lacked the authority to mandate an election monitor. Carr warned that reopening the 2020 investigation or failing to approve the monitors would likely result in no oversight being engaged.
Last week, Fulton County commissioners approved a $99,600 contract with Ryan Germany, a former chief lawyer for the secretary of state’s office, who will lead the monitoring team. Germany will work alongside Carter Jones, who previously oversaw the county’s elections in 2020, and former State Election Board member Matt Mashburn. The Carter Center will also assist in monitoring polling sites and training poll workers.
Republicans on the State Election Board, along with those on Fulton County’s election board and county commission, opposed the proposal adopted by the county last week. They argued that the monitoring team, including figures like Germany and Jones, was too closely tied to the 2020 election, which Fulton County severely mismanaged.
Back in July, the Fulton County election board reviewed two monitoring proposals, ultimately voting 3-2 in favor of the one submitted by Germany while rejecting the other.
By August, the State Election Board’s conservative majority had made their opposition to the Fulton board’s decision clear. However, the Fulton County election board reaffirmed its vote for Germany’s monitoring team later that month, and county commissioners soon approved the contract.
In the lead-up to these votes, Republican members from both boards argued that the county should hold off, citing the lack of State Election Board approval. Democrats, however, countered that the state board hadn’t provided a written proposal and emphasized the urgency of getting the monitoring team in place with the election approaching quickly.
