Established Fact
The Fulton County Department of Registration and Elections delegated poll worker hiring to third-party organizations rather than directly hiring from candidate lists submitted by political parties — an arrangement the FCBRE, the body vested with statutory authority under O.C.G.A. § 21-2-40, never formally authorized. In a 2024 lawsuit, the Republican National Committee alleged that only 9 of 45 qualified Republican poll workers submitted for early voting were hired, and only 6 of 62 for Election Day — with the county having delegated selection to temp agencies and individual polling location managers. A Fulton County Superior Court judge declined to order immediate relief but acknowledged further litigation was needed. The EOG Report separately found that CTCL-funded third parties administered nearly all facets of the 2020 Fulton County election without FCBRE authorization.
Citations
O.C.G.A. § 21-2-40 (2024) (vesting the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections with “the powers and duties of the election superintendent relating to the conduct of primaries and elections”), available at: https://law.justia.com/codes/georgia/title-21/chapter-2/article-2/part-1/subpart-2/section-21-2-40/.
Complainants’ Supplemental and Amended Factual Response, SEB2023-025, p. 46 (Fulton County attorney’s statement: “The Elections Group came to us on a grant. No agreement was signed with them. They were paid by the Elections Group. The county paid zero for them to be here”; confirming FCBRE never authorized the arrangement), available at: https://www.scribd.com/document/753409824/KM-Ammended-Factual-Response.
Election Oversight Group (EOG), Report of Investigation of the 2020 Fulton County General Election (Jan. 6, 2026) (262-page report finding that three CTCL-funded groups administered and controlled nearly all facets of the Fulton County 2020 election without FCBRE authorization; Count 11 identifies The Elections Group, ACLU, and NVAHI as having obtained unauthorized access to election systems and processes), cited in: Georgia Political Insight, Fulton County, GA 2020 General Election Report for Georgia State Election Board, Election Oversight Group, LLC https://drive.google.com/file/d/1UzJ4qX6iBSrFMtkoRnOGIe3q8pzGjkVx/view?usp=drive_link
Republican National Committee v. Williams, Fulton County Superior Court (filed Oct. 3, 2024) (alleging Fulton County Director of Registration and Elections delegated poll worker hiring to third parties rather than directly hiring from the Fulton GOP’s list of qualified candidates; alleging only 9 of 45 qualified Republican poll workers were hired for the early voting period and 6 of 62 for Election Day). Democracy Docket, “Judge Rejects RNC Request for More Republican Poll Workers in Fulton County,” Nov. 1, 2024, available at: https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/rnc-lawsuit-accuses-fulton-county-of-not-hiring-enough-republican-poll-workers/.
Fulton County Superior Court declined to order immediate relief on the eve of the 2024 election but acknowledged further litigation would be needed to determine whether county officials fully considered proposed Republican poll workers. Democracy Docket, “Judge Rejects RNC Request for More Republican Poll Workers in Fulton County,” Nov. 1, 2024, available at: https://www.democracydocket.com/news-alerts/rnc-lawsuit-accuses-fulton-county-of-not-hiring-enough-republican-poll-workers/.