GOP Seeks To Imprison Dems For Protecting Election Integrity

Protesters Rally Against Georgia Voting Bill HB531 — Source: Megan Varner / Getty

The political battle over Fulton County’s election board has reached a new and unprecedented level after Republicans requested that Democrats be imprisoned for attempting to maintain election integrity.

This week, the Fulton County Republican Party filed motions in state court demanding civil and criminal contempt charges against two Democratic members of the Fulton County Board of Commissioners, Dana Barrett and Mo Ivory, who defied a court order Wednesday by voting against appointing Republican nominees Julie Adams and Jason Frazier to the board of elections. The three other Democratic commissioners — Robb Pitts, Marvin Arrington, Jr., and Khadijah Abdur-Rahman — were not present for the vote, resulting in a dramatic 2-2 vote, meaning Adams’ and Frazier’s appointment failed.

Prior to the meeting, Barrett shared with the press that she was planning to vote against the appointments despite the court order.

“I am a no and will risk contempt charges and fines or jail to defend democracy,” Barrett wrote.

The move directly defied an earlier ruling from Senior Judge David Emerson, who ordered the commissioners earlier this month to seat Adams and Frazier at their next meeting. The court’s ruling came after the Fulton County GOP sued, arguing state law requires commissioners to appoint nominees put forth by the county’s Republican and Democratic parties.

For violating that order, the GOP is now asking the court to impose harsh penalties, including fines of up to $1,000 per day and jail time of up to 20 days for all five Democratic commissioners.

“A Petition for Contempt of Judge Emerson’s Order should be filed immediately and I hope the Judge will consider not only a fine but jail time for the unlawful defiance of a lawful court order,” Josh McKoon, chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, wrote on X.

In a statement, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffesperger (R) called the board’s vote “reckless” and said they must follow the court order, but stopped short of calling for a fine or jail time.

“The actions of the commissioners undermine trust in government,” Raffensperger said. “I call on the Fulton Commission to follow the rule of law and appoint all bipartisan appointees, not just the ones they prefer.”

“I think it is outrageous for them to ask for jail time and criminal charges, given the fact that there is a law in Georgia that no elected official can be compelled to vote in any particular way,” Barrett told Democracy Docket. She added that she is “prepared to fight” alongside Ivory as the legal battle escalates.

The controversy began after a state court found that the Board of Commissioners did not have the authority to reject Adams and Frazier, who both have long records tied to election denialism and voter suppression in Georgia, and ordered it to appoint the duo to the county board of elections during its next meeting.

Adams, who previously served on the board of elections, refused to certify Fulton County’s 2024 primary results, citing baseless claims of irregularities. She has ties to the Election Integrity Network, a group led by right-wing attorney Cleta Mitchell, and to the Tea Party Patriots.

Frazier, meanwhile, has made his name exploiting Georgia’s permissive mass voter challenge law. He claims to have successfully challenged over 25,000 voters’ eligibility and filed a lawsuit in August 2024, accusing the board of failing to properly maintain voter rolls. That lawsuit was later voluntarily dismissed.

During Wednesday’s board meeting, both Barrett and Ivory delivered impassioned speeches against appointing Adams and Frazier, who both have rich histories of election denialism and voter suppression in the Peach State.

“They’re election deniers and they’re doing everything they can to undermine faith in our elections,” Barrett said before casting her vote. Ivory added, “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.”

The boiling point of Wednesday’s standoff was months in the making. In May, the Board of Commissioners voted to reject Adams and Frazier, citing concerns about their records. Republicans sued in June, and by early August, Judge Emerson ruled that the commissioners lacked the discretion to reject qualified nominees. In his order, he wrote that the law requires the commissioners to appoint the names submitted by the county parties, making clear that “shall” in the statute is mandatory, not optional.

The Board of Commissioners quickly appealed but was denied a stay that would have allowed them to delay the appointments, leaving Barrett and Ivory to take a stand, even under the threat of legal consequences.

Their colleagues expressed similar frustrations with the court’s ruling. Commissioner Arrington argued the decision stripped commissioners of their discretion, saying it reduces them to “record-keepers” instead of elected leaders entrusted with judgment.

The battle in Fulton County reflects the broader national fight over election administration and the lingering influence of Donald Trump’s false claims of voter fraud in 2020 and his continued effort to thwart the 2026 midterm elections to secure control for the GOP to stay in power.

Trump and his supporters zeroed in on Fulton County in the wake of the 2020 general election, claiming without proof that election fraud had cost him victory in Georgia. Local, state, and federal officials have repeatedly said there’s no evidence that fraud affected the outcome of that election, but conspiracy theories continue to circulate and are used as an excuse for his continued war on democracy.

Election monitors deployed in both 2020 and 2022 concluded that, while Fulton’s elections suffered from administrative issues such as long lines and reporting delays, there was no evidence of fraud. Nonetheless, figures like Adams and Frazier continue to amplify false narratives that undermine voter confidence.

What happens next will depend on the courts. For now, Barrett and Ivory remain defiant, and the Fulton County GOP is demanding their punishment. But as this legal saga plays out, one thing is clear: the fight for control over election boards in Georgia is no longer just a procedural dispute; it has become a battleground for the very integrity of democracy itself.

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Georgia GOP Seeks To Imprison Dems For Protecting Election Integrity was originally published on newsone.com