(The Center Square) – The Georgia State Election Board will pay $50,000 to a nonprofit organization that sued the board over access to open records.
American Oversight said Wednesday it settled a Fulton County Superior Court lawsuit filed in 2024 over claims that board member Janice Johnston had “significantly delayed responses to our public records requests.”
The lawsuit alleged that Johnston, vice chairwoman of the board, stopped election board attorneys from accessing her email to obtain public records held in her Gmail account. Johnston and other election board members used Gmail to correspond, according to the lawsuit.
The settlement, provided by the organization, requires the State Election Board to use official government emails.
“SEB also agrees to instruct each of its members that, to the extent they initiate, receive, or respond to any emails, text messages or messages on other applications, including but not limited to ephemeral messaging applications, they shall ensure those messages are contemporaneously retained until such messages are captured and forwarded to their respective government email account, and that members are instructed that any such messages must be produced in response to any ORA request thatencompasses such messages,” the settlement said. “SEB agrees to provide these instructions to all current Members within five (5) business days of execution of this Agreement, and to any new Member as soon as reasonably practicable after such Member’s taking office.”
American Oversight called Johnston an “election denier.”
“No Georgian should have to question whether they’ll be disenfranchised simply because those administering elections disagree with their views,” said Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight. “Today’s settlement makes clear that election officials are not above the law – they must comply with state transparency requirements, and if they don’t, they will be held accountable.”
The election board approved the settlement without comment at its meeting on Wednesday.
Johnston said money given to a GiveSendGo fundraising campaign set up by Salleigh Grubbs is going to a trust that “she will have no control over.” The campaign raised more than $30,000 of its $100,000 goal. She said she did not know who was contributing to it.
“So I have the hopes to either return all of that to the donors or contribute it to a lawfare defense fund,” Johnston said.
