Two Georgia election workers fired after allegedly shredding 300 voting applications in Fulton County
Two election workers were fired after 300 voter registration forms were allegedly shredded weeks before elections in Georgia’s Fulton County.
The Fulton County Board of Elections sacked the two unidentified workers after preliminary investigations found the forms were checked out for processing but were instead shredded.
The board said in a statement the employees may have checked out batches of applications for processing and instead shredded the forms.
"Fellow employees reported this behaviour to their supervisor on Friday morning and the employees were terminated the same day," the statement said.
The employees were referred to the Secretary of State’s Office of Investigations and the Fulton County District Attorney’s office.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger called for a US Department of Justice investigation and said a review under Georgia’s new election law could lead to a replacement of leadership at the Fulton County Board of Elections.
Georgia appointed a panel to review Fulton County’s handling of elections following a history of problems, including long lines, reporting issues, and poor management.
"After 20 years of documented failure in Fulton County elections, Georgians are tired of waiting to see what the next embarrassing revelation will be,” Mr Raffensperger said in a press release Monday.
“The Department of Justice needs to take a long look at what Fulton County is doing and how their leadership disenfranchises Fulton voters through incompetence and malfeasance."
The shredded forms had been received in the previous two weeks ahead of the 2 November elections to elect a mayor and city council members.
County spokeswoman Jessica Corbitt told the Associated Press it was unclear if the 300 voter registration records were lost or if the processing had been completed before the paper forms were shredded.
Georgia law requires the documents, which do not carry party affiliations, be kept for 24 months after polling day.
“Normally, processing a voter registration application involves entering them in the state system, updating them, verifying their information,” Ms Corbitt told the AP. “That is the matter that’s under investigation — was that process completed.”
Anyone attempting to vote on 2 November who is not registered will be given a provisional ballot.
