Fulton County election workers fired after shredding hundreds of voter registration applications: report
Officials in Fulton County, Ga., have fired two election workers accused of shredding voter registration applications, according to an official statement.
Per CBS News, employees reported the violations to a supervisor on Friday, October 8. Fulton County's statement, which was released on Monday, October 11, indicates "that the employees checked out batches of applications for processing, and they are alleged to have shredded some of the forms."
As a result of their alleged actions, the two employees were terminated later that same day.
The publication reports that the shredded applications were received two weeks ago, ahead of the October 4 deadline for the upcoming November 2 election. County spokeswoman Jessica Corbit noted that it remains unclear whether or not the county was able to recover the estimated 300 voter registration applications that were lost.
"Normally, processing a voter registration application involves entering them in the state system, updating them, verifying their information," she said. "That is the matter that's under investigation — was that process completed."
In the state of Georgia, voter registration applications do not include political party affiliation so it remains unclear which party was targeted. However, it is important to note that Fulton County is a heavily Democratic county.
"Fulton County called the secretary of state's office. We told them about this and we asked them to investigate," Corbitt said.
Fulton County Registration and Elections Director Rick Barron has reported the incident to the office of Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensberger (R). Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts also indicated he reported the incident to County District Attorney Fani Willis for further investigation.
"Elections are the most important function of our government," Pitts said in the statement. "We have committed to transparency and integrity."
During a recent news release, Raffensberger confirmed his office had launched an investigation into the Fulton County incident.
"After 20 years of documented failure in Fulton County elections, Georgians are tired of waiting to see what the next embarrassing revelation will be," Raffensperger said in the release. "The Department of Justice needs to take a long look at what Fulton County is doing and how their leadership disenfranchises Fulton voters through incompetence and malfeasance. The voters of Georgia are sick of Fulton County's failures."
