Georgia's Election Board Settles Ethics Lawsuit for $50,000
In a significant development, the Georgia state election board has reached a settlement with a watchdog organization over allegations that several board members were flouting transparency laws by using private email accounts to conduct business. The agreement, which resolves a lawsuit filed last October, requires the Republican-controlled board to switch to official email accounts and refrain from using personal devices for work-related purposes.
The settlement follows a request made through the Georgia Open Records Act, which revealed that board member Janice Johnston was using her private Gmail account to discuss board business. Despite repeated requests, Johnston refused to hand over those emails. American Oversight, the organization behind the lawsuit, also urged state officials, including the inspector general and attorney general, to investigate potential violations of open records and open meetings laws.
Critics argue that such actions undermine the integrity of elections in Georgia. "When officials who continue to challenge the results of the 2020 election are put in charge of ensuring 'fair, legal and orderly elections' – but do so behind closed doors – the integrity of our elections is at risk," said Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight.
The settlement also highlights concerns over partisan influence on election boards. Partisan supporters of Johnston have begun contributing to her legal fees, raising nearly $30,000. Critics question the propriety of such donations, particularly one anonymous $10,000 donation that may be in violation of state ethics laws.
While the lawsuit is now settled without an admission of liability from the board or Johnston, American Oversight continues to pursue a related case alleging the Georgia election board's alleged violations of the Georgia Open Meetings Act.
In a significant development, the Georgia state election board has reached a settlement with a watchdog organization over allegations that several board members were flouting transparency laws by using private email accounts to conduct business. The agreement, which resolves a lawsuit filed last October, requires the Republican-controlled board to switch to official email accounts and refrain from using personal devices for work-related purposes.
The settlement follows a request made through the Georgia Open Records Act, which revealed that board member Janice Johnston was using her private Gmail account to discuss board business. Despite repeated requests, Johnston refused to hand over those emails. American Oversight, the organization behind the lawsuit, also urged state officials, including the inspector general and attorney general, to investigate potential violations of open records and open meetings laws.
Critics argue that such actions undermine the integrity of elections in Georgia. "When officials who continue to challenge the results of the 2020 election are put in charge of ensuring 'fair, legal and orderly elections' – but do so behind closed doors – the integrity of our elections is at risk," said Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight.
The settlement also highlights concerns over partisan influence on election boards. Partisan supporters of Johnston have begun contributing to her legal fees, raising nearly $30,000. Critics question the propriety of such donations, particularly one anonymous $10,000 donation that may be in violation of state ethics laws.
While the lawsuit is now settled without an admission of liability from the board or Johnston, American Oversight continues to pursue a related case alleging the Georgia election board's alleged violations of the Georgia Open Meetings Act.
so i was thinking about this and i'm like totally worried about our elections in the us right now... it's crazy that people are using private emails to conduct work stuff and then not handing them over when asked 
i mean, what even is the point of having ethics laws if ppl just gonna ignore them? 
and those partisan donations tho... $10k from some anon donor who might be breaking state ethics laws? 
it's like, hello accountability! 
can't have elected officials making decisions for us without being transparent about their interests 
anyway, i'm glad this settlement happened but imo we need to do more to ensure our elections are fair and free from corruption 
I'm thinking, if officials can't even follow simple transparency rules, how can we trust them with voting? 
It's like they're trying to hide something 
Not a good look for the election board 
$10k anonymous donation? 
I'm just saying, we need to keep an eye on these things and make sure our elections stay fair 
guess they finally settled down because 50k ain't cheap, and btw if they're using personal devices for work that's just lazy, get a business phone like normal people 
Can't they just use the official accounts like everyone else? It seems pretty basic to me. And now we're finding out that one of them was using a personal account and refusing to hand over those emails? That's some shady stuff right there. 
I'm not surprised that critics are calling for reform here - it's not exactly what you'd expect from people in charge of making sure our elections are fair and transparent. And then to make matters worse, they're raking in cash from partisan supporters... 
but anyway... this news about Georgia's election board is kinda sketchy? like, how did they end up using personal email accounts for work stuff? doesn't that go against transparency laws or something? 
I mean, who does that? And now they gotta switch to official emails and no more personal devices for work... pretty strict rules 
but makes sense, right? Transparency is key in elections. And those partisan donations to Janice Johnston's legal fees are just shady 
American Oversight is keeping it real about this whole thing and I got nothin' but respect for them 
"When officials who continue to challenge the results of the 2020 election are put in charge...". Like, what even is that? These people are literally supposed to be impartial and now they're putting partisan influence on top of everything? 
It's like, super dodgy!
. I'm not saying it's necessarily a conspiracy, but it does raise some serious questions about the integrity of our elections. Can we really trust the folks who are supposed to be counting our votes to do the right thing? Not so sure 
.
. It shows that there are still people watching and holding folks accountable for their actions. I'm not saying the settlement is a bad thing or anything - it's just that $50k might've been spent on lawyers instead of, like, actually fixing some problems 
. But hey, at least now those board members have to use official email accounts and stuff, so transparency isn't completely gone 
I mean, how can they just use personal devices for work-related stuff? It feels like such a big no-no to me! 
. And let's be real, the government is always breathing down people's necks, it's hard to keep everything straight sometimes 
. I don't think it's a big deal that there was an anonymous donation either 
.
And now we're hearing about partisan supporters chipping in with Janice Johnston's legal fees? It's like they want to control the narrative behind closed doors 
The fact that American Oversight had to step in and demand accountability is a major red flag for me 
. I mean, what's the point of having transparency laws if you're just gonna ignore 'em and use personal devices for work stuff? It's like, hello, we pay our taxes so we can have some accountability in our government officials