To appoint the GOP nominees to the election board, the commission required a minimum of four votes in favor of them. Five Democrats and two Republicans make up the seven seats on the Board of Commissioners. When the vote was held on Wednesday, Democratic Commissioners Robb Pitts, Khadijah Abdur-Rahman, and Marvin Arrington Jr. were not present.
Last week, Emerson issued an injunction threatening to hold the commissioners in contempt if they failed to appoint the two GOP nominees at their Wednesday board meeting. On Monday, the Georgia Court of Appeals rejected a motion to delay Emerson’s decision while the matter is being appealed.
By a vote of 5-2 in May, commissioners rejected the nominations, citing issues with their qualifications and prior behavior that called into question election results and voter registration. In order to force the commissioners to accept the nominees, the Republican Party filed a lawsuit against the county after the voting.
Josh McKoon, the chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, described Wednesday’s vote as “ludicrous” in a post on X.
A petition for contempt of Judge Emerson’s order ought to be submitted right away, and I’m hoping the judge will take jail time into account in addition to a fine for willfully disobeying a valid court order! He penned it.
Commissioners Barrett and Mo Ivory told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution that they will not back down from their rulings, even if it meant paying penalties or going to jail.
“So be it,” Barrett responded, “if that means I have to risk going to jail.”
Jason Frazier, who has filed thousands of voter registration challenges in Fulton, a Democratic stronghold, and Julie Adams, an incumbent election board member who voted against certifying last year’s primary election, are among the nominees.
When the county denied Frazier’s nomination in 2023, the Fulton GOP also filed a lawsuit. Following the nomination of a different election board member, the party withdrawn its case.
County election boards are in charge of arranging polling places, conducting and certifying elections, and identifying issues with voter eligibility.
The nominees have been embroiled in their own election-related court battles apart from the battle against their board seats.
Adams declined to certify the outcomes of elections held between 2020 and 2024, as did at least eighteen other members of election boards throughout the state. However, following a court decision that concluded certification is required, no member of a Georgia election board declined to certify President Donald Trump’s victory last November. In the case, Adams was the principal plaintiff.
Last year, Frazier sued the county elections board again, claiming that Fulton had broken federal and state rules by neglecting to regularly remove illegal voters from its registers. A month later, he voluntarily dropped the case.
There are five members of the Fulton election board. Two Republicans and two Democrats are nominated by their parties and selected by the commissioners, while the commission selects the chair.
