The probe, confirmed in a statement to Just the News, comes at a tumultuous time for DeKalb County, whose elections director was placed on an extended leave of absence two weeks ago.
"The investigation includes not only whether Dekalb County properly complied with the documentation required by the State Election Board but also whether the actual procedures used by Dekalb adequately protected chain of custody for ballots returned to drop boxes." A spokesman for DeKalb County did not immediately return calls or respond to emails from Just the News last week or Monday seeking comment.
The announcement of the probe comes less than a month after the Georgia Star news site reported that 43,907 of the 61,731 absentee ballots deposited in drop boxes in the November 2020 presidential election in DeKalb County - 72% -were counted in official tallies certified by the county and the state though they had not met the chain of custody requirements set by the Georgia State Election Board on July 1, 2020.
"They were referred for investigation. In Stephens County, the elections director emptied an absentee ballot drop box on her own instead of with the two people that the State Election Board rule required. Stephen County was referred to the Attorney General's office by the State Election Board." DeKalb County is the largest county in the state to face questions so far about the chain of custody documents governing drop boxes.
The consultant wrote, "There are simply too many moving parts to ask [Hamilton] to be the sole operations taskmaster for the organization while also managing policy and executive functions." Raffensperger's office said despite the new investigation and earlier revelations by Just the News of significant mismanagement and irregularities in Fulton County, he remains confident in the validity of the November 2020 election results in which Biden narrowly defeated Trump, a verdict that the former president has refused to accept.
"A monitor appointed by the Secretary of State's office monitored the work by Fulton County during the November 2020 election, for example, and found sloppiness but no fraud. Election workers aren't perfect and do make mistakes but that is a far cry from evidence of fraudulent ballots. Under both state and federal laws, a procedural error by an election worker would not invalidate an otherwise legitimate and proper ballot." The State Elections Board recently took the first step toward taking control of Fulton County's voter counting operation in time for the 2022 election, a new power the board was granted earlier this year under election integrity reforms passed by the state Legislature.
Raffensperger has long been critical of Fulton County's election operations, including on election night last November.
Tuesday, September 28, 2021
Georgia opens probe into drop box ballots, chain of custody in large Democrat county
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