Fulton County delays appointing GOP nominees to elections board
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The Fulton County Elections Hub & Operations Center sign in Fairburn. Photo: Elijah Nouvelage/AFP/Getty Images
Fulton County commissioners will let the appeals process play out before considering whether to approve or reject two controversial Republican nominees to its Board of Registration and Elections.
Why it matters: Julie Adams and Jason Frazier, the nominees submitted by the Fulton County Republican Party, are accused by opponents of being election conspiracy theorists and deniers.
- Adams, a current board member, refused to certify the 2024 primary election results until she received detailed voter information. A Fulton Superior Court judge rejected her request.
- Frazier has challenged thousands of voter registration lists across the state, and he accused Fulton County in a lawsuit of not removing ineligible people from its voter registration list.
Driving the news: The Board of Commissioners voted 5-2 Wednesday to table the nominations.
- Commissioners Bridget Thorne and Bob Ellis, the only Republicans on the board to support Adams and Frazier, voted against the action.
How it works: Republicans and Democrats are each allowed to nominate two members to the board while the County Commission collectively nominates a fifth member.
- Each nominee must receive the support of four county commissioners to be seated on the board.
What they're saying: Dozens of people spoke, mostly in opposition, about the nominees during Wednesday's meeting.
- Commissioner Marvin Arrington Jr., who opposed the nominations, said the Republicans "want to blame Fulton County for their failed nominees."
- "This is an attack, again, on 222 years of jurisprudence," said Arrington, later adding "no one on God's green earth can tell me how to vote."
The other side: Thorne said the local GOP has the backing of the Republican National Committee and "they're ready to fight."
- "If anything, this fight to keep Jason and Julie off the board has only strengthened the fight of the Republican Party because you must have something to hide if you don't want these two on there," she said.
- Georgia Republican Party chairman Josh McKoon said Wednesday on X that he "personally will be looking for any additional way to hold the defiant and lawless Democrats on the Fulton County Commission accountable to the fullest extent of the law."
Catch up quick: Commissioners in May voted to reject the Adams and Frazier nominations. Adams was nominated for reappointment while Frazier was nominated to replace Mike Heekin, whose term was set to expire at the end of June.
- This prompted the Fulton Republican Party to file a lawsuit asking a judge to find the County Commission in contempt.
- A Fulton County Superior Court judge in early August ruled that the county commission had to accept the nominees, according to the AJC.
Friction point: Fulton commissioners still failed to appoint the members. A judge ruled last week they were in contempt of court and issued a $10,000-per-day fine for not abiding by the court order.
State of play: The fines have been paused while the county appeals.
The intrigue: This wasn't the first time Frazier's nomination was rejected by the Fulton County Commission.
- The board voted down his nomination twice in 2023, according to the AJC.
What's next: The Georgia Court of Appeals will take up the case.