ATLANTA — Fulton County is suing the Georgia State Election Board over an independent monitoring team agreement for the general election.
The lawsuit was revealed during Tuesday's state elections board meeting, during which the board discussed election violation cases for possible referral to the Georgia Attorney General's Office.
It stems from the State Election Board recommending additional members for the monitoring team, which would oversee this year's election process. Independent monitors are not new to the county, as they were used after the 2020 election.
For context, according to member Janice Johnston, the monitoring team was agreed upon as part of an original complaint from a case that addressed several concerns and possible violations during the 2020 election.
Those complaints alleged that some ballots were double-counted during a recount, 17,852 ballots were missing, and ballot scanners were inadequately used during the 2020 election. The Secretary of State only found that the county double-scanned a small number of ballots, according to the lawsuit. The county ultimately chose a monitoring proposal opposed by the Republican partisans with a 3-2 majority on the State Election Board back in July.
The State Election Board then issued the monitoring team agreement and letter of reprimand. That letter later cited the county's failure to comply with several procedures regarding the original complaint filed last year, which did not address the missing ballots.
Attorney General Chriss Carr wrote to the Associated Press that the State Election Board has no authority to order an election monitor and that Fulton's agreement to propose and pay for a monitoring team was voluntary.
Despite Carr's prediction, county commissioners voted 5-2 last week to approve a $99,600 contract proposal from Ryan Germany, a former chief lawyer for the secretary of state's office. The county's Board of Registration and Elections had already signed off on the proposal in July and last month voted to reaffirm its approval. The Secretary of State also approved the same team.
The State Election Board met several times to agree on a monitoring team but never voted on one.
However, on Tuesday, State Election Board members debated whether they could force the county to comply with their requirement for the monitoring team.
"We do not have the right to force Fulton County to accept different people," said State Election Board member Sara Tindall Ghazal during Tuesday's meeting.
Ultimately, the board voted 3-2 to subpoena documents from the 2020 election from the Fulton County Clerk of the Court.
In a copy of the lawsuit, Fulton County Regulation and Elections Board allege that the State Election Board is forcing them to pay for additional monitors out of their pocket. The lawsuit also states that the State Election Board has no power to force them to make this change or impose election monitors.
"The conduct by the State Election Board raises a justiciable case or controversy concerning an election for which early voting begins on October 15, 2024," the lawsuit added.
Fulton County is asking a judge to grant them injunctive relief and declaratory judgment regarding the use of additional and specific election monitors.
"Fulton County can proceed on with whatever monitoring team they want, but this State Election Board will not support that team and will not consider their findings valid when they present them," said Johnston.
This all comes after the board passed several new rules recently amid contentious meetings, divided votes and legal challenges. The board majority and supporters of the rules contend they're straightforward measures necessary for ensuring confidence in November's election.
RELATED: Georgia State Election Board passes several rules, including one on hand-counts of vote totals
Among the most contentious rules are two concerning the certification process, with a Fulton County judge hearing a challenge against them last week, and one providing for local precincts to hand count ballot totals to check against machine totals at the end of Election Day.
The State Elections Board also dismissed six alleged election violation cases and heard some cases to determine if they would refer those to the attorney general.
Tuesday's meeting was supposed to be the last meeting before the general election, but the board could meet again to discuss the case with Fulton County.
You can rewatch the entire meeting and the decisions on the other election violation cases on the board's YouTube page here.
More about the State Election Board
The State Election Board's actions have taken on a higher profile recently with a conservative majority of the board more receptive to activist demands -- largely tied to continued anger over the 2020 election result in Georgia -- for changes to election administration rules.
Former President Trump highlighted the three board members -- Dr. Janice Johnston, Janelle King and Rick Jeffares -- who have steered the board toward endorsing various rule changes submitted by the public, calling them "pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory."
The board has five members: one appointed by the state House, one chosen by the state Senate, one each from the Republican and Democratic parties, and a nonpartisan chair selected by the General Assembly or by the governor if the General Assembly is not in session when there is a vacancy.
Conservative media personality King was appointed by the House in May, sealing Republican partisan control. Dr. Johnston, a retired obstetrician and frequent critic of elections in deeply Democratic Fulton County, was appointed by the state GOP in 2022. And Jeffares, a former lawmaker close to Trump-aligned Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, was appointed earlier this year by the Senate.
In August, the board voted 3-2 to ask state Attorney General Chris Carr to investigate the Fulton County government over the 2020 election, seeking to reopen an inquiry closed in May.
The Associated Press contributed to the report.