Georgia Judge Rejects Third Lawsuit From GOP Fulton County Election Official
A Georgia judge rejected a third lawsuit from Julie Adams — a GOP member of the Fulton County Board of Elections and Registration — seeking additional election records she claims she needs to certify tomorrow’s election results.
Adams filed a lawsuit on May 22 against Fulton County’s election board and its director Nadine Williams after Adams refused to certify the results of the county’s primary elections on May 21.
The election results in Fulton County will be certified thanks to a Georgia judge.
Sign up for our free newsletters so you never miss updates on what could impact voter eligibility and certification this election season.
She argued that the board violated state law because, as an election official, she must have access to all information about the voting process in order to verify the results. She argued that she has the discretion to not certify results until she receives this information. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney dismissed the case on Sept. 9.
Then, a few days later, Adams sued Fulton County, presenting similar arguments that the duty to certify election results is discretionary for individual members of county boards of elections — and that all members must have full access to all election-related materials. The information she requested included a list of all registered voters, voter check-in lists from each precinct and a list of all voters who requested, received and/or returned absentee ballots.
McBurney rejected her lawsuit on Oct. 14, again holding that certifying election results is mandatory under Georgia law. Adams appealed the decision to the Georgia Court of Appeals, and on Oct. 25, the court denied her motion for expedited review.
Then, on Oct. 31, Adams asked the Fulton County Superior Court to order Williams to immediately provide her with election materials and information related to advance voting — also known as early voting.
On Monday, McBurney denied Adams’ request, ruling that her appeal in her other case paused the order granting her a legal right to access all records related to Fulton County elections.
He also explained that there is nothing in Georgia election law that says that election board members “may not or should not have access to as much data as they reasonably believe they need to do their jobs, nor is there a sound policy reason to prohibit such access.”
However, he said this is only true if “the requests are timely made and not unduly disruptive of the other important work the Board and its staff must perform in the days leading up to and immediately following an election.”
He said that a large demand for information right before an election — deemed necessary for someone to certify election results — is “almost by definition dilatory,” seeking to delay certification.
McBurney has established that under Georgia law, Adams has a duty to certify election results, regardless of whether she believes she has enough information or not, but whether she’ll certify the 2024 general election results is still yet to be seen.