Yesterday, the Fulton County Republican party – backed by the Republican National Committee – tried to have Fulton County commissioners, elected officials, jailed for voting against far-right nominees to the county’s elections board.
The court rejected the GOP’s push for criminal contempt and jail time. But the judge issued a ruling, holding the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, as an entity, in civil contempt, with fines of $10,000 per day (beginning Friday) and continuing until the Commission appoints the GOP nominees to the county election board.
Fulton County’s appeal challenging the original order directing the appointment of the GOP nominees will continue to go forward.
Why Commissioners Are Still Fighting
Ahead of yesterday’s hearing, Fulton County commissioners Mo Ivory and Dana Barrett spoke about why they are continuing to oppose appointing the GOP’s nominees to the county election board:
“It’s not about partisan politics, it is about ensuring our Board of Elections are held to the highest level of accountability, and that our elections are fair,” Mo Ivory said ahead of the vote on the GOP nominees last week.
“I believe they are election deniers who are doing everything they can to undermine faith in our elections and in the election process in Fulton County,” Dana Barrett said before yesterday’s hearing.
You can watch the full remarks from Commissioners Ivory and Barrett here.
Georgia law gives county commissioners the power to appoint members to the elections board. Parties can nominate, but they cannot install. The Board of Commissioners maintains that its appointment power necessarily includes discretion to reject unfit nominees – otherwise, the power to appoint would be left to the parties.
Commissioners exercised that discretion when they rejected the GOP nominees, Julie Adams and Jason Frazier – nominees with well-documented records of spreading false claims about the 2020 election and undermining elections.
That’s why Fulton is continuing to appeal. The law is clear: “nominate” means to propose, “appoint” means to choose. Commissioners are standing by their responsibility to select members who will protect free and fair elections.
Who Are Julie Adams and Jason Frazier?
Adams and Frazier are operatives in the Election Integrity Network, a group that spreads false narratives about voting issues and trains volunteers to pressure elected officials into passing restrictive voting laws.
Cleta Mitchell, group’s founder, is the former Trump attorney who worked on overturning Trump’s 2020 election loss and advised Trump on his call pressuring Georgia’s Secretary of State to “find” votes after that loss.
Julie Adams’ Documented History of Undermining Elections:
Julie Adams was confirmed to the Board of Elections in February 2024, then quickly hired by Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network as a regional coordinator, later promoted to director.
Adams refused to certify the 2024 primary election and filed a lawsuit, backed by Trump allies at the America First Policy Institute, against the Board of Elections itself.
Reporting revealed she worked behind the scenes with other county election board members who embraced Trump’s Big Lie to push new rules that would make it easier to block certification of results.
Adams also helped secretly push a rule change to the Trump-aligned Georgia State Election Board that would have empowered local officials to delay the certification of election results. That rule was ultimately blocked by a judge, who called it “illegal, unconstitutional and void.”
Jason Frazier’s Documented History of Undermining Elections:
Jason Frazier has filed voter challenges targeting nearly 10,000 Fulton residents.
He participated in Election Integrity Network strategy calls, and helped develop mass voter challenge software backed by Mitchell.
He has sued to remove voters from the rolls during federally protected periods and posted voters’ personal information.
He even called for criminal investigations into Fulton election officials.
This Exact Fight Has Happened Before
This happened in 2023, when the Fulton GOP sued the Fulton Board of County Commissioners over their rejection of Jason Frazier’s nomination to the county election board. But instead of demanding jail time, the Republican Party dropped its suit, seeming to acknowledge the BOC’s discretion, and submitted a new nominee. The law hasn’t changed – the Republican Party’s tactics have.
As Fair Fight CEO Lauren Groh-Wargo said: “It’s good to see courts not bowing to the Republican Party’s authoritarian thirst. The GOP is trying to criminalize democracy itself, demanding elected officials be jailed for doing their jobs.”
The bottom line: Fulton’s commissioners are standing up for voters, not bowing to unelected party operatives.
PS: For more background on this fight, read our earlier post.
Fair Fight Team
This is no surprise in light of the trumplicans actions across the country. I only hope the opposing parties are taking names to return the favors when the dregs of the earth are no longer in charge and the gop is made aware of their actions/crimes and lack of morality.
Vital information to know, but not surprising. The Resistance has to have overwhelming numbers to counter Republican cheating tactics. We need our share of the 91 million registered voters who failed to vote in 2024. 2026 may be the last free election if we don't fight with all we've got.