A trio of conservative members of the Georgia State Election Board agreed Wednesday to further investigate Fulton County’s 2020 presidential election law violations despite warnings from fellow board members that their decision was illegal.

In a 3-2 vote Wednesday, right-wing GOP Georgia election board members Rick Jeffares, Janice Johnston and Janelle King voted to report findings from the  Fulton investigation into allegations of double balloting, missing ballot images, and a host of other violations tied to the controversial 2020 election highlighted by the presidential contest that saw Republican incumbent Donald Trump suffer defeat to the Democrat’s nominee Joe Biden.

The case is now referred to the Republican Attorney General Chris Carr, whose office is to report on its findings within 30 days and to notify the State Election Board immediately if the investigation cannot be conducted due to a conflict of interest with a case that has also been investigated by the Georgia Secretary of State. State agencies are considered clients of the Georgia Attorney General.

The vote Wednesday referred the Fulton case to the Attorney General’s office for investigation into 17,852 reported missing ballot images, the double-counting of more than 3,000 ballot vote images, and other election-related violations.  In May, Georgia election officials with the secretary of state told the election board that mistakes made by Fulton election workers in 2020 would not have changed Trump’s narrow Georgia loss to President Biden.

Wednesday’s state board vote followed a Tuesday meeting when the board set the stage for county election officials to delay certifying election results while demanding more information about how votes are tallied.

Johnston raised concerns that Carr’s office could be conflicted because the case also involves the secretary of state’s office, which has been involved in the initial investigation since a complaint was filed in 2023.

Wednesday’s election board dispute stems from the May 7 board meeting, in which the state panel voted 2-1 to formally reprimand Fulton County for a host of alleged election violations. At the time, the state board agreed to assign an independent election monitor to oversee Fulton’s election operations in this November’s election contest between Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump and the Democrat’s nominee, Vice-President Kamala Harris.

On Wednesday, board members were split on whether the May agreement had been resolved when the Fulton Elections Board agreed on an election monitoring team in recent weeks.

Johnston said that state election and Fulton officials were unable to agree by the July deadline set by former election board member Ed Lindsey, Jr., who presented the proposition in May with a timeline for reaching a compromise on appointing the 2024 election monitoring team.

“(Lindsey) let the board know that should an agreement not be reached on a monitor in July, that (he… will come back with a motion to reconsider and send (the case) to the attorney general,” Johnston said.

Johnston said that Futon officials have made it difficult for her to inspect election materials that might reveal information about the missing election documents and other issues related to the case.

“It seems to me that somebody is moving heaven and earth to not allow anyone to review the paper ballots,” she said. “I don’t know why that is. I’m just interested in the data and interested in the numbers. I’m not interested in who got more votes.”

Election board Chairman John Fervier said the case could not be reopened by Johnston, who failed to support the letter of reprimand and how the election monitors would be appointed in May.

Fervier warned that the board could be violating a “double jeopardy” law which prohibits anyone from being prosecuted twice for a case involving substantially the same charges.

Several hours before Wednesday’s vote to refer the case for further investigation, the State Election Board decided to postpone deciding who would serve on the team assigned to monitor Fulton’s elections.

During Wednesday’s meeting, the board heard presentations from two proposals seeking to independently watch Fulton’s election operations through the remainder of this year. Some questions were raised about members of one proposed morning team who had ties to right-wing “election deniers” conspiracists  who had sought to overturn Trump’s loss to Biden in 2020.

Meanwhile, King expressed her distrust in the supporting and monitoring team led by a former Georgia Secretary of State attorney Ryan Germany, who she accused of repeatedly downplaying any serious election problems from 2020. That bi-partisan monitoring group received the support of the Fulton County Elections Board during a July meeting.

Sherri Allen, who was sworn in as chair of the Fulton County Board of Registration & Elections on Aug. 1, said the board has fully followed the state election officials’ actions in May, including accepting the reprimand of June 13 and selecting a monitor in July.

“We will not engage in any further discussions, investigations or other action related to this case,” Allen said in a statement. “To do so would be a waste of taxpayer dollars and time that is best spent preparing for the upcoming General Election.”

Sara Tindall Ghazal, the State Election Board’s sole Democrat, is an attorney who has specialized in election laws and she said Wednesday that was voting against a measure that she contends would be a violation of her oath of as an state election officer and as an attorney “sworn to uphold the laws of the state of Georgia.”

King, who was appointed to the board by House Speaker Jon Burns last month, said worries about potential litigation shouldn’t dictate the board’s decisions.

“The amount of times I’ve been told not to do something because we could possibly be sued, if we were doing a drinking game, we would all be drunk,” King said. “At this point, I feel like we have to make sure we’re not scared of the fear of that because in some cases it’s the right thing to do.”

Fervier, who was appointed to serve in a nonpartisan chairmanship  role  in January by GOP Gov. Brian Kemp, said that following the law is the best action to be taken.

“Following the law is something that I will always strive to do and will vote against when I think we’re violating the law or violating rules,” Fervier said.

ATLANTA (AP) — Four years after the 2020 election, a newly GOP-aligned election board in Georgia is pushing to reinvestigate the state’s largest county for its handling of the vote.

Georgia’s State Election Board voted 3-2 Wednesday to ask state Attorney General Chris Carr to investigate the Fulton County government, seeking to reopen an inquiry closed in May.

The action shows the degree to which Republican outrage over the 2020 election continues to animate party activists and comes on the heels of a Saturday rally in Atlanta where former President Donald Trump attempted to relitigate unproven claims that he won Georgia, which President Joe Biden won that year by a narrow margin. He praised the State Election Board at the same rally.

Spokesperson Kara Murray said Carr, a Republican who has been opposed by Trump, hadn’t yet received the request.

“We take election integrity very seriously, and we will apply the constitution, the law and the facts as we have always done,” Murray said. “If supported by evidence, we will not hesitate to prosecute voter fraud.”

The resolution says that if Carr doesn’t act, the board will try to hire an outside lawyer to conduct an inquiry.

It’s also unclear what could happen if an inquiry does go forward. In a hotly disputed 2021 law, the board was given the power to take over election administration in individual counties. That provision was always aimed at heavily Democratic Fulton County in the aftermath of an election that an independent monitor said was characterized by sloppy practices and poor management but with no evidence of intentional wrongdoing.

A trio of Republican partisans aligned with Trump has taken control of the five-member regulatory board, which has no direct role in determining election results but writes rules to ensure that elections run smoothly and hears complaints about violations.

Some activists who have long wanted action against Fulton County argue that officials should face criminal charges. Those activists have also long pushed for access to the paper ballots from the 2020 election, which could enable a citizen review similar to one that roiled Arizona in 2021.

As part of the May resolution of the earlier inquiry, the board found that Fulton County improperly double-counted some votes. But those who brought the complaint say other issues are unresolved, such as missing electronic ballot scans.

“It seems to me that somebody is moving heaven and earth to not allow anyone to get to the paper ballots,” said Dr. Janice Johnston, a retired obstetrician appointed to the board by the state Republican Party. “I don’t know why. I’m just interested in the data and interested in the numbers.”

Wednesday’s decision is likely to be met with litigation. Fulton County’s election board sent a letter to the state board flatly saying the May resolution is final and the board is legally prohibited from reopening the charges.

“We will not engage in any further discussions, investigations or other action related to this case,” Fulton County board Chair Sherri Allen said in a statement. “To do so would be a waste of taxpayer dollars and time that is best spent preparing for the upcoming general election.”

The state board’s nonpartisan chair, John Fervier, tried to block the action, citing a letter from Carr’s office that he said also warned the move would be illegal. The Associated Press wasn’t immediately able to obtain a copy of the letter.

“We are putting this board in legal jeopardy by approving that motion,” Fervier said.

Johnston, who led a successful effort to overturn Fervier’s ruling blocking consideration of the move, said a lawyer for the state GOP had advised her that the board could legally go ahead. Janelle King, whose appointment tipped the balance of power on the board, said she is not afraid of a potential lawsuit.

“We’ve got to make sure we’re not scared to make moves because of the fear of that, because in some cases it’s just the right thing to do,” said King, a conservative political commentator

It’s at least the second recent time that state Republican Party officials or employees directly advised the board on a course of action. Party Chairman Josh McKoon recently sent two proposed rules and talking points to another GOP-aligned member of the board, former state Sen. Rick Jeffares.

Part of the deal made in May was that Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, the State Election Board and Fulton County would agree on a monitoring team. On Wednesday, though, the board refused to vote on the team proposed by Raffensperger and Fulton County. That’s in part because it included the former chief lawyer for Raffensperger’s office and the man who monitored Fulton’s 2020 election.

Raffensperger’s office declined to comment on the board’s actions. He was removed as a voting member of the board in 2021 and from his nonvoting capacity by lawmakers this year, largely driven by GOP anger at his defense of Biden’s 2020 victory in Georgia.

At the Saturday rally, Trump said the three GOP-aligned board members “are all pit bulls fighting for honesty, transparency and victory” while criticizing Fervier and the Democrat on the panel. He in particular singled out Johnston, who was in the second row and stood to acknowledge Trump’s praise.

“My courage was contagious?” Trump said. “Well, your courage is contagious, too.”

ATLANTA – Georgia’s attorney general said that a new Advanced Placement course in African American Studies does not violate the state’s law against teaching divisive racial concepts.

In a letter written to the Republican state representative who authored the 2022 measure, Attorney General Chris Carr said that the African American Studies AP course is exempt from the law because it is an AP course.

Georgia’s Superintendent of Schools Richard Woods had also requested an opinion from Carr on the issue, after Woods had refused to recommend the course for approval by the state Board of Education because he thought it broke the law.

Wade said Tuesday that he hoped Woods would reverse his decision and recommend the course.

“I really hope that Richard will make a decision as soon as possible and alleviate the concerns of Georgia students, teachers and parents,” Wade told the Associated Press.

SEE ALSO: Should AP African American Studies be taught in Georgia schools? Congresswomen talk superintendent ban

After confusion over whether the state could fund the course, some districts across the state have declined to include it in their curriculum.

Some districts have declined to teach the course without state approval. In metro Atlanta, many school districts had to decide if they wanted to fund the class on their own. Officials in DeKalb County agreed to spend up to $100,000 to make sure students can take it.

The Gwinnett School District went the other way. The district isn’t offering the class, forcing students who had signed up for it to make last-minute changes to their schedules. Gwinnett officials made the decision because they say the lack of funding means students won’t get extra credit added to their G.P.A. to help them qualify for the H.O.P.E. Scholarship.

Criticism from both parties over AP African American Studies funding

Woods has faced not only attacks from Democrats but pointed questions from Republican Gov. Brian Kemp.

At a school district event in Carrolton last week, Kemp stated his concerns over the decision and asked for more transparency, especially with changes occurring so close to the start of the school year. 

“If you are going to make changes, especially just before the school year, there needs to be transparency,” Kemp said. 

AP African American Studies course in the national spotlight

The Advanced Placement course drew national scrutiny in 2023 when Florida’s Republican Gov. Ron DeSantis said he would ban the course in his state. In June, South Carolina officials also refused to approve the course. South Carolina said individual districts could still offer it.

The College Board is a nonprofit testing entity that offers Advanced Placement courses across the academic spectrum. Students who score well on an exam can usually earn college credit. The board has said the course is based on academic scholarship and doesn’t seek to indoctrinate students.

Carr’s letter notes that the law requires teachers to instruct “in a professionally and academically appropriate manner and without espousing personal political beliefs.” But other than that, he noted the law’s text specifically exempts AP courses.

“Other than those limitations, the statutory language as enacted excludes advanced placement, international baccalaureate and dual enrollment coursework by its express terms,” Carr wrote.

Georgia Superintendent of Schools Richard Woods, seen center, is touring a school in this undated photo.  (FOX 5)

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Woods had been saying that districts could teach the AP material and get state money by listing it as an introductory African American studies course approved by the state in 2020. Woods took that position after earlier saying districts would have to teach the course using only local tax money. But when he declared that he believed the course was illegal, Woods said he believed districts could expose themselves to legal challenges by teaching the AP material using the introductory course.

Georgia’s 2022 ban on teaching divisive racial concepts in schools, based on a now-repealed executive order from President Donald Trump, prohibits claims that the U.S. is “fundamentally or systematically racist.” It mandates that no student “should feel discomfort, guilt, anguish, or any other form of psychological distress because of his or her race.” So far, 18 states have passed such bans.

Under the law, if people allege a violation and it isn’t resolved locally, they can appeal to the state Board of Education. The board could order a corrective action plan, and a district could lose exemptions from state rules if it didn’t comply. Districts rely on those exemptions to set policy locally.

Woods, who is white, said he was particularly concerned about how the course presents the concept of intersectionality. That’s a framework for understanding the effects of overlapping systems of discrimination or disadvantage. For example, Black women may face compounding disadvantages because of their race and gender.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.