When Georgia Republicans passed a sweeping voting overhaul after the 2020 election, critics warned that the most alarming provision was an obscure measure giving state officials the power to replace any “underperforming” county elections board.
Now that threat feels far less theoretical in Fulton County.
After a raid Wednesday where FBI agents seized roughly 700 boxes of 2020 ballots and other sensitive election data in Georgia’s most populous county, local officials fear the Trump administration’s intervention could hand the president’s allies on the State Election Board a pretext to take control of Fulton’s election system.
“If Republicans can take over bright blue Fulton County, they don’t need to run good candidates. They don’t need to win the battle of ideas,” said Democratic state Rep. Saira Draper. “They’d be in position to win every statewide race in Georgia in 2026.”
Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Credit: Ben Gray for the Atlanta Journal-Constitution
The idea is not a new one.
Republican leaders steadily built the case for the GOP-controlled State Election Board to take over county elections ahead of the last presidential election but wound up pulling back in 2023 after concluding local officials made necessary changes to their long-criticized election process.
But now the five-member board has tilted toward MAGA loyalists, featuring several members who Trump described at a 2024 rally as “pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory.”
They’ve feuded with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the Republican who rejected Trump’s efforts to overturn the 2020 election, and clashed with the board chair appointed by Gov. Brian Kemp, who has urged his party to move past that vote.
In the aftermath of Wednesday’s raid, two board members told The Atlanta Journal-Constitution they aren’t ruling out the prospect of a takeover.
“I have not been part of any conversations in taking over Fulton. And I think that remains to be seen,” said Salleigh Grubbs, a Trump ally and newly appointed board member. “My goal is that everyone follows the law.”
Janelle King, another board member, said a takeover is “on the radar as an avenue we could take, but nothing has been discussed about moving forward with it.”
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
Fulton County officials are girding for a fight that could dominate the run-up to the midterm. County Commission Chair Robb Pitts, who called the FBI raid a “hit job,” said officials are sharpening their legal strategy now.
“We will not give one inch to those who seek to take control of our elections.”
‘Couldn’t run a bake sale’
Democrat Joe Biden narrowly carried Georgia in 2020, but Trump and his allies falsely claimed the election was stolen and mounted an aggressive effort to overturn the results.
Fulton quickly became a central target of their ire. Judges rejected a flurry of lawsuits alleging fraud, and three separate vote counts — by machine and by hand — confirmed Biden’s victory by about 12,000 votes.
The Republican-controlled Legislature passed a law after that election giving the State Election Board the power to replace a county’s elections board following a performance review, audit or investigation. The process would allow a temporary superintendent to assume broad authority over vote counting, polling places and staffing.
Even if initiated, a takeover might not be immediate. The law outlines a timeline that includes 30-to-90-day notices before a preliminary hearing can be held. Even so, some election analysts worry the law could be circumvented.
Marilyn Marks, the executive director of the Coalition for Good Governance, said she’s concerned the law could be used with “breathtaking speed and almost no due process” to oust a county election board.
“Board members can be ousted virtually overnight, with little notice and replaced by a single partisan official who assumes control of elections that are supposed to be administered by a bipartisan, public body,” said Marks. “That level of unchecked power is extraordinarily dangerous.”
Sara Tindall Ghazal, the sole Democratic appointee on the panel, said she is on high alert, noting that Fulton has kept many of the changes in place since the board agreed three years ago not to pursue a takeover.
That included adding nearly 100 polling locations ahead of the 2024 presidential election, improving fiscal oversight and addressing operational issues flagged by an outside monitor appointed by the State Election Board.
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN/AJC
Credit: HYOSUB SHIN/AJC
“Ultimately, it’s the voters of Georgia whom we are responsible to,” Ghazal said. “Not political parties and not conspiracy theorists. It’s the voters.”
A state-run Fulton County election system could bring sweeping changes, including fewer early voting locations, reduced hours during the three-week early voting period and the rollback of programs backed by voting rights advocates to expand ballot access.
It could also open the door to new voter cancellations of inactive voters from the voting rolls, which critics say inadvertently include some eligible voters who haven’t moved, taking away their ability to vote unless they reregister.
The prospect of an overhaul is cheered by some Republican leaders. Bridget Thorne, a GOP member of the Fulton Commission, said she welcomed the “transparency” of the FBI raid.
“If there is nothing to hide, it is time to show the world the receipts,” she said. “Let’s finally put the 2020 election to rest.”
Credit: AP
Credit: AP
Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, Trump’s pick for governor, echoed the sentiment when he called the raid an “important step toward accountability.” He added: “Fulton County Elections couldn’t run a bake sale.”
And state Sen. Brian Strickland, a Republican candidate for attorney general, described a takeover as a worst-case scenario.
“We don’t want the state to have to go in and run elections in 159 counties. Nobody wants that. That’s not the desire of us as legislators,” he said. “But if you can’t figure out how to do it, what else are we supposed to do?”
Local leaders acknowledge Fulton’s long history of election missteps, which at times made it the butt of election-night jokes as results trickled in long after other counties finished counting. But they say many of those issues have been addressed — and that the latest federal intervention threatens to reopen old wounds for political gain.
“My concern is that the Trump administration is using Georgia as a test case to see what they can get away with,” said Maggie Goldman, a Democratic candidate for the commission.
“What will stop them from showing up at election warehouses across the country and demanding election ballots and materials that haven’t been fully counted yet?”
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