Democrats in Fulton County are flouting court orders by refusing to seat two Republican election board members, Julie Adams and Jason Frazier. Their excuse? That no one should be able to “force” them “to cast a particular vote.” But the irony is that one of their chief complaints against Adams is that she once declined to certify an election the way Democrats wanted her to.
The Republican Party of Fulton County nominated Adams and Jason Frazier in May to serve on the elections board. But neither Adams nor Frazier have technically been confirmed by the Democrat-led Fulton County Board of Commissioners in part due to their election integrity efforts, despite state law requiring county commissioners “shall” accept the appointments. Notably, Adams is still in fact on the board, since she was an incumbent. But the board will be one Republican short at the end of the month as Mike Hegan, the other sitting Republican board member, has resigned, effective the end of August. Without Frazier’s confirmation, the seat will remain empty.
As reported in these pages by Mark Davis, even though the Fulton County Republican Party “filed suit in June, and the court found in their favor early in August, the commissioners still refused to comply.” A court once again ordered the board to confirm Adams and Frazier in recent days, describing Democrats’ efforts as a “bad faith” stall tactic, as reported by Davis.
Nonetheless, the board failed to pass a motion introduced by Republican Commissioner Bridget Thorne to confirm both Adams and Frazier.
That’s when the Democrats’ position became clearly hypocritical.
Democrat Commissioner Dana Barrett insisted “no judge” could “compel” her to approve the nominations, before claiming to “respect the rule of law.”
Fellow Democrat commissioner Mo Ivory said “The act of voting itself is discretionary. Any vote, the ones we take here or the one that you cast when you vote in an election, is discretionary.”
“No one should force an elected official or any voter to cast a particular vote,” Ivory said.
But the irony is risible.
Ivory is objecting to Adams precisely because Adams, too, believes voting is discretionary and that no one should force her to vote in a particular way.
Adams — who sits on the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections — filed a suit in May of 2024 seeking clarification about her role after she chose not to certify the results of the March presidential preference primary. Adams alleged she was within her right to refuse to certify the results of the primary after she was allegedly “denied … access to essential election materials and processes.”
Adams asked the court to confirm her role in certifying elections is discretionary — meaning members can choose whether to certify the results if they are confident the election was administered lawfully, rather than ministerial, which means she and other members must rubber-stamp the results despite any concerns.
Adams’ challenge was initially dismissed on procedural grounds, though Adams refiled her suit.
The same judge, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney, ultimately ruled that “no election superintendent (or member of a board of elections and registration) may refuse to certify or abstain from certifying election results under any circumstance,” even if there is a “non-sensical result.”
In fact, Ivory previously cited Adams’ previous lawsuit that challenged the rubber-stamping of election results even if such results are “nonsensical” as reason not to vote to confirm her, claiming Adams was not fit to serve because she causes “chaos.”
Yet Ivory is now claiming voting is, in fact, discretionary.
But Democrats don’t get to now claim voting is discretionary after they attacked Adams — and anyone else –for taking the same position.
The Democrat Party of Georgia sent a letter to the entire Fulton County board after Adams refused to certify the presidential preference primary effectively threatening criminal charges should members, like Adams, not certify the results.
The chief operating officer of Georgia’s Secretary of State’s office Gabe Sterling suggested in the weeks leading up to the November election that “every jurisdiction” have a plan to threaten election officials with lawfare if they don’t rubber-stamp election results.
Meanwhile the propaganda press maligned anyone who may not want to rubber-stamp election results as “undermining” the process or being an election “denier” after the Georgia State Election Board passed a rule giving election officials the ability to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” into election results before certification happens.
Democrats in Fulton County insist no one can “force” them to cast a particular vote, even as they block Adams precisely because she once tried to exercise her own discretion not to rubber-stamp an election. The message couldn’t be clearer: Republicans must certify what Democrats demand with no questions asked. But Democrats reserve the right to discretion when it comes to voting.