(The Center Square) – The Georgia State Election Board voted to send a letter to the attorney general’s office requesting a closer look at Fulton County tabulation tapes not signed in the 2020 election.
An investigation into the unsigned tabulation tapes that included 315,000 votes came to light at a December meeting of the election board. New procedures were put in place to ensure the mistake doesn’t happen again, Ann Brumbaugh, an attorney for the Fulton County Board of Registrations and Elections, told the board after not contesting the claim.
The board agreed to turn the matter over to the attorney general’s office, which could recommend a fine of $5,000 for each violation.
The complaint was filed with the secretary of state’s office in March 2022, unbeknownst to the board, Vice Chairman Janice Johnston said at Wednesday’s board meeting.
“It is inexplicable that this case was not presented for more than two and a half years,” Johnston said. “Why was such and important complaint that calls into question the certification of thousands of votes for such a controversial election not addressed?”
Johnston said she found at least 11 other violations that the attorney general should investigate.
Board member Sara Tindall Ghazal said the code does not require the signatures.
“That is a rule that this body passed to provide more confidence to the voters,” Ghazal said. “I agree that a violation of a rule that undermines confidence in processes and procedures is no small matter. But to suggest that the certification of the outcome of an election should be determined on a violation of a rule that the Legislature did not deem important enough to put in law is a material misstatement of what Georgia law says and what Georgia law requires our certifications are.”
The issue raised questions about how long counties and the secretary of state’s office should retain ballots. State law says two years. Representatives from the secretary of state’s office were not at the board meeting to answer questions.
The 2020 Georgia ballots were recounted twice, and then, subject to a 100% hand count, according to Robert Sinners, communications director for the secretary of state’s office.
The mistake with the Fulton County tabulation tapes is “a clerical error” that “at the end of the day does not erase valid, legal votes,” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said previously.
Still, President Donald Trump continues to question the outcome of the 2020 presidential contest in Georgia, which he lost to former President Joe Biden by 11,780 votes. Biden defeated Trump 306-232 in electoral college votes; Georgia contributed 16 to the Democrat’s win, not enough of a swing (32 points) to reverse the 74-point setback.
The questions about the tabulation tapes are not about the 2020 election, said James Mills, executive director of the State Election Board.
“We’re not trying to overturn an election,” Mills said. “We’re trying to fix a problem.”
