Atlanta – In an extraordinary escalation, at least two Fulton County Commissioners Mo Ivory and Dana Barrett, if not all members of the commission, could face contempt charges, fines, or even jail time, for their votes against seating two far-right activists on the Fulton County Board of Elections. Three members of the commission (Robb Pitts, Marvin Arrington, Jr., and  Khadijah Abdur-Rahman) were not present for today’s 2-2 vote.

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The nominees, Julie Adams and Jason Frazier, are being supported by the Republican National Committee and Georgia Republican Party, who are trying to force the Fulton County Commission to appoint them as members of the Fulton County Board of Elections (BOE). Adams and Frazier are known to be critical operatives in Donald Trump’s “Stop the Steal” movement.

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“This is a red-alert moment for democracy in Georgia,” said Fair Fight CEO Lauren Groh-Wargo. “Unelected Republican Party operatives are trying to dictate how elected Fulton County Commissioners vote, exploiting contradictions in state law and municipal code to seat extremist activists. Adams and Frazier are bad-faith actors and, if appointed, we expect they will undermine and try to break the very election system they’re supposed to uphold and improve. What happens here today will echo nationwide.”

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Background: After the Fulton County Commission initially rejected Adams and Frazier’s nominations, the Fulton County GOP sued. A judge ruled the commission must appoint the nominees, and this week the Georgia Court of Appeals declined to block that order while the parties continued to argue the merits of the decision on appeal. While the county GOP has focused on a single provision of Fulton’s code, Georgia law also addresses the Board of Commissioners’ appointment power, clearly stating the Board – the county’s governing authority – is under no obligation to appoint any nominee, leaving open that a party may need to consider and make alternate nominations. Instead of submitting new candidates, the GOP turned to the courts to strip commissioners of their power.

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National Voter Suppression Machine Behind Adams and Frazier: Adams and Frazier are key operatives in the Election Integrity Network, a group launched by Cleta Mitchell, the former Trump attorney who advised Trump on his call pressuring Georgia’s Secretary of State to “find” votes in 2020 after Trump lost the election. Mitchell was reportedly with Trump on January 6th and was later subpoenaed by the January 6 Committee for her role in a plan to seize voting machines in swing states after the 2020 election.

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Adams was first confirmed to the BOE in February 2024 and shortly after became the regional coordinator for Cleta Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network. Many have expressed concerns about Adams’ intention on the BOE and some saw Adams receive texts from Republican operatives "telling her what to say, and what to do.” Reporting revealed that Adams sent emails to fellow election denier BOE members using her EIN email address. Once on the BOE, Adams filed a lawsuit, backed by the far-right Trump-connected America First Policy Institute, against the BOE.

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Frazier has challenged nearly 10,000 voter registrations in Fulton County and claims to have successfully challenged over 25,000. He was nominated to the BOE and rejected twice over concerns about his extreme views and actions. He helped develop EagleAI, an error-ridden mass challenge software backed by Cleta Mitchell, and has regularly attended strategy calls for her Election Integrity Network. He has also sued the BOE, including a failed attempt to force illegal voter purges, and has posted voters’ personal information online while publicly calling for criminal investigations into Fulton officials.

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National Far-Right Strategy: Today’s showdown is not just about Fulton County. It is the next step in a coordinated voter suppression strategy – using legal intimidation to sideline local governing bodies and force election deniers into critical positions ahead of 2026. Trump bolstered those efforts this week by announcing his intention to end mail-in voting by executive order at the behest of Vladimir Putin.

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