Exclusive: Ex-GOP official nominated for Fulton elex chair
GOP could oversee Fulton elections in 2024
A former GOP county commissioner is set to be nominated this week to oversee elections in Georgia’s largest county. His nomination, along with the expected installation of two election deniers, could drastically reshape election administration in one of the most overwhelmingly Democratic counties in the nation with the 2024 presidential election on the horizon.
Fulton County Commission Chairman Rob Pitts, a Democrat, will nominate Republican Lee Morris to chair the county’s Board of Registration and Elections, according to the agenda for Wednesday’s meeting. The current BRE chair, Cathy Woolard, has informed commissioners that she plans to step down at the end of June.
Morris, a certified public accountant and a lawyer, was a member of the Fulton County Commission from 2014 until he was defeated for re-election in 2022. He also served on the Atlanta City Council in the 1990s.
Pitts himself has not weighed in publicly, but his nomination of Morris signals an attempt to mend relations between state election officials and Fulton County ahead of the 2024 election. For several years, Republicans at the Gold Dome have pointed to the state’s largest county as the source for most election irregularities, even threatening a state takeover of elections in the county as recently as 2021.
The BRE is comprised of five members: each party is able to appoint 2 members, and the chairperson is chosen by the county commission. So if Morris is confirmed, it would mean that a majority-Republican panel will be overseeing elections in a county that has given Democratic candidates more than 70% of the vote in recent statewide elections.
That prospect has mobilized Democrats. The Fulton County Democratic Party on Friday released a statement urging commissioners to oppose Morris’ nomination, citing his votes in support of Senate Bill 202 — the sweeping election overhaul signed by Gov. Brian Kemp in 2021.
“As Fulton County Democrats, we expect that you will select a new BRE Chairperson who is deeply committed to an inclusive voter recruitment and registration strategy, who brings knowledge and experience to promote the full range of voter protections available under the law, and who can lead a bipartisan board effectively during a potentially polarizing election cycle in 2024,” the statement says. The Young Democrats of Atlanta issued a statement expressing similar concerns.
Morris’ campaign website says that he does not believe that the 2020 election was stolen from Donald Trump. He also says that he has always voted to increase funding for elections.
Some Democratic Fulton County Commissioners are also trying to bring attention to Morris’ nomination. County Commissioner Dana Barrett, who defeated Morris in 2022, believes that her colleagues will be doing Fulton County voters a “disservice” by impaneling a majority-Republican county election board.
“This is a heavily Democratic county that elected 5 Democrats to the Board of Commissioners,” Barrett said. “The [BRE] chairperson should be, essentially, a choice of the people. We are not doing the will of the people by putting [Morris] in this job.”
Fulton County Commissioners will meet Wednesday morning to consider Morris’ nomination.
New GOP appointments
Additionally, it appears that Republicans are poised to install two election deniers to the Fulton BRE. The Fulton County Republican Party plans to nominate Jake Evans and Jason Frazier to fill the GOP seats on the election panel, according to a letter from the party.
Frazier, a Roswell resident, has repeatedly filed challenges to several voter registrations in Fulton County. He spoke in favor of a bill this year that would make it easier to challenge voters and has expressed concerns about “double voting” and dead people being found on voter rolls.
Evans, an attorney, previously served as chair of the state ethics panel. He earned a Trump endorsement in an unsuccessful campaign for Congress in 2022 and has touted himself as being one of the first lawyers to argue the former President’s claims of election fraud before the U.S. Supreme Court.
“The Republican Party nominations of Jake Evans and Jason Frazier for seats on the Fulton County Board of Elections are an extreme departure from good governance and another step towards more election denial and voter restriction by the GOP,” Barrett said of the GOP selections. “While the GOP has the right to nominate whoever they want for these seats, these selections are just another example of the massive and dangerous shifts in the Republican party.”