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As reported earlier, the RNC filed a lawsuit on Saturday after four Georgia counties extended their election office hours and decided to accept absentee ballots over the weekend in violation of state law.
Fulton, Cobb, DeKalb and Gwinnett counties initially refused to allow Republican poll watchers in to observe the process, according to the Republican National Committee.
“This is a blatant violation of Georgia law . . . which states ‘all drop boxes shall be closed when the advance voting period ends,’” the Georgia Republican Party said in a statement on Friday. “To make matters worse, the four election office locations are situated in areas of the county that will clearly favor Democrat candidates.”
Fulton County did not inform the Secretary of State’s office they would be counting ballots all weekend.
According to Georgia state senator Greg Dolezal, the Secretary of State’s office sent investigators to all four counties.
“I am in communication with the Secretary of State’s office and my Senate colleagues about this. The Secretary has sent investigators to all four locations and the outside monitoring teams (which were assigned specifically to observe Fulton for prior issues) are also deploying people to each location. Fulton County did not inform the SoS office they would be doing this. I will continue to monitor this situation with my colleagues,” Greg Dolezal said.
I am in communication with the Secretary of State’s office and my Senate colleagues about this. The Secretary has sent investigators to all four locations and the outside monitoring teams (which were assigned specifically to observe Fulton for prior issues) are also deploying…
— Greg Dolezal (@dolezal4senate) November 2, 2024
At least 3 GOP Georgia state senators descended on Fulton County on Saturday to monitor the situation.
After putting pressure on Fulton County officials, all four counties eventually allowed poll watchers to observe the counting.
But it is way worse than previously reported according to state senator Brandon Beach.
Brandon Beach is one of the state senators who raced over to the Fulton County Government Services Center on Saturday and he said that not only was the Secretary of State not informed of the weekend ballot counting, but the Fulton County Board of Elections also had NO KNOWLEDGE of the last minute decision to open 4 locations to accept absentee ballots!
Brandon Beach said he will be filing an Open Records request to get answers.
“The Fulton County Board of Elections had no knowledge of the last minute decision to open 4 locations to accept absentee ballots this weekend. This was not discussed at their special called meeting last Wednesday (10/30). Who made this decision and who decided to tell security to keep monitors/poll observers outside ? I will be filing an Open Records Request to get answers. Election Integrity Matters !!” he said.
The Fulton County Board of Elections had no knowledge of the last minute decision to open 4 locations to accept absentee ballots this weekend. This was not discussed at their special called meeting last Wednesday (10/30). Who made this decision and who decided to tell security…
— Brandon Beach (@BeachforGA) November 3, 2024
Senator Beach delivered a message from the Fulton County Government Services Center.
WATCH:
We are not going to let Fulton County erode the voter’s trust !! pic.twitter.com/LhyL78LNWz
— Brandon Beach (@BeachforGA) November 3, 2024