Gwinnett County (Georgia) election workers work on a recount on Nov. 16, 2020. (Megan Varner/Getty Images)
The Georgia State Board of Elections prosecuted 35 cases of voter fraud this week.
“Election fraud will not be tolerated in Georgia. Whenever there is evidence, the person will face prosecution.” Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, chairman of the Joe State Election Commission, said in a statement.
“Joe State has multiple safeguards in place that allow our team of investigators to uncover fraudulent voting. Their efforts to catch wrongdoing in these cases have preserved the security of Joe State’s elections.” The Republican added.
Authorities said in those cases there were four incidents of felons (convicted felons) voting or registering to vote and four incidents of non-citizens voting or registering to vote.
Authorities also said a group called the New Georgia Project (NGP) submitted 1,268 voter registration applications after the deadline, resulting in those voters being disenfranchised in the 2019 special election.
In an emailed statement, Nsé Ufot, the project’s chief executive officer, said, “The Feb. 10 meeting of the State Elections Commission was the first Time the project became aware of allegations related to the important voter registration process we are conducting starting in 2019.”
Ufford added, “We have not received any information on this matter, from the Secretary of State or any other Joe State official, so we will not comment further on the investigation.”
Laffensperger said last year that the project was one of several groups that sent letters to people living outside the state in possible violation of Georgia law. The group, which says it fights for voters’ rights, was founded by former Democratic gubernatorial candidate Stacey Abrams. According to state records, the group has previously been involved in disputes over non-payment of unemployment insurance.
Appearing on “MSNBC” last week, Ufford said, “The notion that voter fraud is rampant is insane, it’s a fiction made up by Republican supporters.”
Authorities also allege that Floyd Jones and the Fayette County Board of Elections and Voter Registration, of which he was director at the time, mishandled the Nov. 3, 2020, general election by four memory cards containing 2,760 ballots. The board did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fayette County was one of four counties where officials found uncounted ballots during the recount. Ruffinsperger’s office said about 2,755 ballots were found on a memory card that were not included in the initial count.
Another notable case involves an Atlanta woman, Samunta Pittman, who allegedly submitted 70 fraudulent voter registration applications while canvassing for the Coalition for the People’s Agenda. The coalition did not respond to questions.
Authorities said two other people each submitted a false voter registration application, and another person was charged with voting in another person’s name.
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