The Fulton County whistleblower who alleged improper ballot processing in an affidavit was removed from working as a poll manager or in any polling positions for the runoff election. It is unclear whether this decision will extend to future elections.
The affiant, Bridget Thorne, appeared on Fox News earlier this month to discuss her allegations of improper vote processing. Thorne worked the election as a Dominion Voting Systems (Dominion) certified technician. In the preceding paragraphs notifying her of the officials’ decision, the letter thanked and commended Thorne for her service.
“Our mission and goal is to consistently provide professional and quality election services to the citizen voters located throughout Fulton County Georgia. Your participation and support as a poll manager has enabled our department to collectively accomplish this end,” read the letter.
However, the letter continued to state that the superintendent didn’t opt to reappoint her. The letter didn’t offer any specific reason as to why.
“There are many factors (management skills, performance, actions, behavior, etc.) considered prior to making reappointments for each primary or election. Unfortunately, the decision has been made to not reappoint you in a poll management or other poll positions in Fulton County,” stated the letter.
The letter gave Thorne the option to contact their elections office for additional information.
Fulton County Elections Consultant Dwight Brower signed off on the letter. On election night last month, Brower was one of the officials that told reporters that a hours-long counting delay was due to a burst water pipe.
“There was a pipe that burst in the room where we actually had ballots; thank goodness that none of those ballots were damaged,” Brower told The Atlanta Journal Constitution.
Subsequent reports from other officials discovered that a pipe hadn’t burst, as election officials originally claimed.
Thorne’s affidavit alleged that test ballots used for testing and calibration were handled “in a haphazard and careless way.” She described test ballots left unsupervised across the facility, and batches were ultimately lost. Thorne also alleged that she’d witnessed another worker generating random, live ballots rather than test ballots. Further, she alleged that live ballots were disorganized, left unsupervised, and improperly transported.
Thorne also testified that her regional supervisor green-lighted American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) personnel to work as absentee ballot “clerks.” According to her, these clerks had access to the voter database via personal laptops.
The Georgia Star News reached out to Thorne regarding the letter; Thorne didn’t respond with comment by press time.
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Corinne Murdock is a reporter at The Georgia Star News and the Star News Network. Follow her latest on Twitter, or email tips to [email protected].
Photo “Poll Worker” by Phil Roeder. CC BY 2.0.
