(The Center Square) – Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger said the Fulton County Commission is defying a court order by not seating two Republican members on its local election board.
The Georgia Court of Appeals on Tuesday refused to block a lower court order that said the commission must appoint Julie Adams and Jason Frazier to the board. The board rejected Adams and Frazier in May and took its case to court.
Georgia law states that the local election boards should have two members each from the Republican and Democratic parties. Local county commissions appoint a chairman.
Just four members of the Fulton County Commission stayed for the vote on Wednesday, which was added on to the agenda at the end. The vote was 2-2 with Mo Ivory and Dana Barrett voting against Frazier and Adams.
“My vote today isn’t about partisanship at all,” Adams said. “It’s about principle and ensuring that appointments to this board reflect the highest standards of fairness and responsibility. The court has ruled. I respect the authority of the court, but I also, like has been mentioned, have a duty to the people.”
Raffensperger said the commissioners’ actions “undermine trust in government.”
“If elected officials expect Georgians to respect and follow the law, then they must first set that example themselves,” Raffensperger said. “Following the law and the Constitution isn’t reserved for when we agree with the outcome.”
Fair Fight Action, a group founded by former Georgia gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams, said Adams and Frazier were involved in the “Stop the Steal” movement after the 2000 election.
“Unelected Republican Party operatives are trying to dictate how elected Fulton County Commissioners vote, exploiting contradictions in state law and municipal code to seat extremist activists,” said Fair Fight CEO Lauren Groh-Wargo. “Adams and Frazier are bad-faith actors and, if appointed, we expect they will undermine and try to break the very election system they’re supposed to uphold and improve.”
The group said Fulton County’s actions are part of a national strategy by the far right.
“It is the next step in a coordinated voter suppression strategy – using legal intimidation to sideline local governing bodies and force election deniers into critical positions ahead of 2026,” the organization said in a news release. “Trump bolstered those efforts this week by announcing his intention to end mail-in voting by executive order at the behest of Vladimir Putin.”
President Donald Trump said Monday that he is planning to “lead a movement” to end mail-in ballots and voting machines, beginning with issuing an executive order in the near future.
