Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Friday condemned the firing of poll managers and whistle blowers Suzi Voyles and Bridget Thorne by Fulton County elections officials.
Raffensperger also called on Fulton County to rehire them to work future elections.
The statement is available here.
“I condemn in the strongest terms the decision by Fulton County elections officials to fire two poll managers purely for raising concerns about the November elections,” said Raffensperger. “Though we have found no credible evidence of widespread fraud, it is important that individuals can raise their voice when they believe they have seen wrongdoing. Retribution against whistle blowers poses a threat to the continued strength and vibrancy of our democracy.”
Voyles and Thorne raised concerns about the execution of the November elections.
Thorne appeared on Fox News earlier this month to discuss her allegations of improper vote processing, The Georgia Star News reported recently. Thorne worked the election as a Dominion Voting Systems (Dominion) certified technician.
Fulton County recently terminated poll workers Thorne and Voyles. Both individuals served as poll managers during the November elections and had done so in the past, Raffensperger said.
The secretary of state said his office has more than 250 open investigations related to elections in 2020, more than half of which relate to the November 2020 elections. Raffensperger said he has requested the assistance of staff from the Georgia Bureau of Investigation to help complete these investigations.
Raffensperger said he has repeatedly called on the counties to ensure open access for poll watchers throughout the elections process. For example, counties were urged to make the audit-triggered hand recount open to the public, even beyond the ratio of observers agreed to by both the Republican and Democratic Party legal teams.
Raffensperger has sent out reminders to election workers that the absentee ballot signature verification process, like the rest of the process, needs to be open to public observation.
Georgia State Sen. Greg Dolezal (R-Cumming) said Fulton County election officials have discovered ways to breach Georgia law and enable voting irregularities, The Star News reported. He made the comment on Thursday’s edition of The John Fredericks Show.
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Jason M. Reynolds has more than 20 years’ experience as a journalist at outlets of all sizes.
