Court tosses MAGA lawsuit seeking access to Georgia’s election operations center

A Georgia state judge has thrown out a conspiracy theory-fueled lawsuit against Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) that sought to open the state’s election-night operations center to far-right observers.

Filed by Republican lieutenant governor candidate Greg Dolezal, along with other GOP plaintiffs, the lawsuit attempted to force Raffensperger to allow poll watchers and members of the MAGA-controlled State Election Board (SEB) inside the state’s Emergency Operations Center, where statewide vote totals are received and published.

In her dismissal order, Fulton County Superior Court Judge Melynee Leftridge wrote that Dolezal — the only plaintiff who had standing to bring the suit — failed to show that state law required Raffensperger to permit public access to the Emergency Operations Center.

“No polling, voting, scanning, tabulation, verification or adjudication of voted ballots takes place at the Emergency Operations Center,” Leftridge wrote. “All such activities are conducted at the county level, where poll watchers and members of the State Election Board have access to observe them.”

While the Republican plaintiffs asserted that Raffensperger undermined trust in the electoral process by limiting access to the center, the suit was widely seen as an attempt to invite partisan interference in Georgia’s elections. 

While plaintiffs sought access for Georgia’s May 19 primary races, they likely would have attempted to maintain access for future elections, including the state’s primary run-offs this week and the general election in November. 

Dolezal, who is in a close primary runoff, has made election skepticism a central component of his campaign. Earlier this year, he called on the SEB to take over control of Fulton County’s elections based on nonexistent claims of voter fraud.