Atlanta – A hearing has been scheduled tomorrow in the new lawsuit filed by right-wing organization Citizen AG, which is representing Republican Party-connected election integrity activists Jason Frazier and Earl Ferguson. The suit, against four Fulton County Board of Elections members, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, and an elections office staff member, seeks to allow the removal of voters from Georgia's voter registration rolls within 90 days of Election Day, a period protected by the National Voter Registration Act (NVRA).

The lawsuit was a predictable follow-up act to SB 189, a new anti-voter bill signed into lawby Governor Brian Kemp in May. In addition to making it easier for MAGA election denier activists to challenge Georgians’ freedom to vote by attempting to purge them from the registration rolls, SB 189 encourages challenges to remove voters from the rolls up until 45-days before Election Day. That 45-day window conflicts with federal law under the NVRA.

Section 8(c) of the NVRA prohibits “any program the purpose of which is to systematically remove the names of ineligible voters from the official lists of eligible voters” within 90 days of a federal election. Exceptions to the NVRA 90-day removal ban include requests for removal by the registrant, criminal convictions or declarations of mental incapacity, or death. Without an exception, voters should not be removed from the rolls in the 90 days before an election that includes an election to federal office. More legal background on this can be found here.

Notably, the suit does not include Republican Party appointee to the Fulton County Board of Elections, Julie Adams. Adams is currently being represented by the pro-Trump legal organization, America First Policy Institute, in her lawsuit attempting to allow elections officials to obstruct certification of election results. She’s also closely connected with election deniers who have helped influence changes to Georgia’s certification rules passed by the Georgia State Election Board.

Fair Fight released the following statements in response:

“Georgia’s new anti-voter law, SB 189, conflicts with the NVRA and this lawsuit seeks to empower ‘election denier’ vigilantes, many connected to the MAGA operation, to ignore federal law and file mass voter purges. Their goal is simple, to block Georgians from casting ballots in the 2024 election. Fair Fight will continue to call out and fight tooth and nail against these shameless attempts to block ballot access,” said Lauren Groh-Wargo, Fair Fight CEO.

“Trump knows a margin as small as 11,780 votes can make all the difference, especially in states like Georgia, and now, his MAGA allies are seeking to remove Georgia voters from the rolls by the thousands. After reporting this week revealed a secret conspiracy by Trump allies to rewrite Georgia election certification rules, this looks like the latest MAGA operation attempt to mess with our elections — Fair Fight will continue sounding the alarm,” said Max Flugrath, Fair Fight spokesman.

BACKGROUND • Citizen AG and Trump Connections:

Citizen AG, founded by right-wing media personality Mike Yoder, is a 501(c)(3) that “advocates for the civil liberties of all Americans and its nonpartisan approach to the preservation of our civil rights benefits each and every American citizen,” according to their home page. For tax purposes, Citizen AG operates under the business name of 1789 Foundation Inc. Citizen AG’s efforts are focused in the “swing states” of AZ, GA, MI, NV, PA, and WI. Citizen AG has a voter roll challenger contact form and a focus and program on its website to recruit registered voters to submit challenges to their respective county voter rolls utilizing EagleAI.

Nicole Pearson, the Citizen AG lawyer signing the Complaint by Jason Frazier and Earl Ferguson’s, has a profile on Turning Point USA’s website, a group closely connected to Donald Trump and acting as Trump’s “force multiplier” in battleground states. In 2023, Pearson spoke to attendees at the 2023 Pastors Summit San Diego hosted by Turning Point Faith.

Jordan “Alex” Johnson is a founding partner of Bernard & Johnson, LLC, based in Atlanta, GA. He’s representing Ferguson and Frazier in this lawsuit along with Nicole Pearson of Citizen AG. Johnson is currently the President of the National Federation of Republican Assemblies and serves as the Chair of the Georgia Republican Assembly Board and Executive Committee; from 2014 to 2023, he served as the GRA President. According to his firm’s bio, Johnson also is the General Counsel of the DeKalb County Republican Party and a member of the Federalist Society.

BACKGROUND • Mass Voter Purges: The new lawsuit comes as MAGA ‘election integrity' vigilantes have mobilized to challenge thousands of Georgians’ freedom to vote across the state. Many of the challenges are directly linked to Fulton County prolific voter challenger Jason Frazier, who the Georgia Republican Assembly, a Republican Party-linked organization, has appointed as chairman of their new Election Integrity Action Group. Frazier has challenged over 10,000 Fulton County residents’ freedom to vote and was involved in the development of a software tool that MAGA ‘election integrity’ vigilantes are using to fuel their voter challenges. After an unsuccessful attempt to install Frazier on the Fulton County Board of Elections, the Fulton County Republican Party filed a lawsuit to overturn the decision, which was voluntarily dismissed.

BACKGROUND • MAGA Election Sabotage Conspiracy:

This week, a new Rolling Stone report revealed months of email coordination between Georgia State Election Board member Dr. Janice Johnston, local Georgia election officials who support Trump’s Big Lie, and election deniers. The email correspondence reveals a secret effort to rewrite Georgia election certification rules. The emails build on other reports that show direct coordination between Election Board members and Georgia Republican Party leaders, Republican National Committee operatives, and Trump-connected election deniers, even some that supported his failed attempts to steal the 2020 election.

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