GOP Fulton County elections board member sues county, board over access to election records

A Republican member of the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections (BRE) is suing the county, board, and election director over election information to which she claims she was denied access.

Last week, Julie Adams filed a lawsuit in which she claimed Fulton County Elections Director Nadine Williams prevented her from accessing information and performing her duties, Fox 5 Atlanta reported. The lawsuit was filed before Adams abstained from certifying the May 21 primary election in Fulton County on Tuesday.

"Over the years, the Board has purportedly delegated core BRE responsibilities to an appointed Election Director. Plaintiff swore an oath to ‘prevent fraud, deceit, and abuse’ in Fulton County elections and to ‘make a true and perfect return,'" the suit states. "These obligations are frustrated by the repeated and continuing refusal to allow Plaintiff access to, and direct knowledge of, the information Plaintiff reasonably believes she needs to execute her duties faithfully and thoroughly."

Adams alleges that Williams denied her request to access election materials and other documents after the election director said the summaries the board received go through "a ‘rigorous validation process’ and should simply be trusted."

The board has yet to respond to the lawsuit.

When Adams abstained from certifying the primary election on Tuesday, she said that employees were illegally given the powers of the BRE, according to the Associated Press.

“It’s time to fix the problems in our elections by ensuring compliance with the law, transparency in election conduct and accuracy in results,” Adams said in a statement. “And in my duty as a board member, I want to make sure that happens.”

“The BRE is currently a window dressing, and that cannot be the correct interpretation of the law,” she added. “Currently all important decisions are made by the staff and behind closed doors. If we have no transparency to the board, what does that say for transparency to the people we serve?”

Adams was the only member of the five-member board that abstained from certifying the primary election.