Georgia’s Fulton County fined $10,000 a day for not appointing Republican election board nominees

The government of Georgia’s most populous county must pay $10,000 a day until it appoints two Republican nominees to its election board under a judge’s ruling issued Wednesday.

Superior Court Judge David Emerson found that the Fulton County Board of Commissioners had not complied with his earlier order to appoint the nominees to the election board. In his decision earlier this month, he said the law does not allow commissioners to veto qualified nominees proposed by political parties.

In his new written order in which he held the Board of Commissioners in civil contempt, he imposed a fine of $10,000 a day, starting at noon Friday to be paid daily to the state “until such time as the Commission shall act to appoint the nominees of the Republican party’s executive officer.” He also found that the Board of Commissioners had been “stubbornly litigious and acted in bad faith” and ordered it to pay the county Republican Party’s legal costs.

Spotlight on Georgia elections

The fight over the Fulton County election board appointments underscores the close attention paid to Georgia’s elections. President Donald Trump won the crucial swing state last year after narrowly losing there four years earlier.

After his 2020 loss to Democrat Joe Biden, Trump and his allies claimed without evidence that election fraud had cost him victory in Georgia. Local, state and federal officials repeatedly said there was no evidence that fraud affected the outcome. Conspiracy theories that circulated focused on Fulton County, a Democratic stronghold that includes most of the city of Atlanta.

The county’s election board is composed of five members. The Board of Commissioners selects the chair, and the county Republican and Democratic parties each nominate two people to be appointed by the commissioners. Nominees must live in Fulton County, be registered to vote and cannot hold public office.

How we got here

The Democratic majority on the Board of Commissioners in May voted not to approve the appointments of Republican nominees Julie Adams and Jason Frazier, saying their past actions made them unsuitable nominees.

Adams has served on the election board since February 2024. She abstained from certifying primary election results last year and unsuccessfully sued the election board seeking a ruling saying county officials can refuse to certify elections. Frazier has formally challenged the eligibility of thousands of Fulton County voters.

After its nominees were rejected, the county Republican Party sued to force the commissioners to seat them. The party argued that the law leaves no room for commissioners to reject a nominee who meets the basic requirements.

The Democratic commissioners acknowledged that they must approve two people nominated by each party, but they argued that does not mean they have to accept any nominee who’s put forth.

The judge sided with the Republican Party.

“The Board shall appoint the two members as nominated by the county executive committee chairperson. Those nominees are Jason Frazier and Julie Adams,” Emerson wrote in an Aug. 4 order.

Emerson and the Court of Appeals both declined to put the order on hold while the commissioners appeal.

After the commissioners met more than once following Emerson’s initial ruling and did not vote to appoint Adams and Frazier to the election board, the Republican Party asked Emerson to find the commissioners in contempt.

The arguments

“I was elected by the people, and I take my responsibility very seriously,” Democratic Commissioner Dana Barrett said on the steps of the county courthouse before Wednesday’s hearing. The people elected her, she said, “to stand up for what is right and to stand up for them, and no court, no lawyer, no political party can compel me to vote against the best interests of the people.”

Trey Oliver, a lawyer for the county Republican Party, said during the hearing that finding the Democratic commissioners in contempt was the only option remaining for the judge.

“Put simply, taking them at their own words, these five commissioners would rather pander to their constituents than follow this court’s — or any court’s — order,” Oliver said. “That cannot stand. Our legal system would fold under such global disobedience.”

Don Samuel, a lawyer for the commissioners, argued that his clients fully respect the court and its authority but that they were trying to make sure their appeal is not rendered moot. If they were to follow through with the appointments and the Court of Appeals then decided in the commissioners’ favor, there would be no way to remove Adams and Frazier from the election board, he said.

Samuel said after Wednesday’s ruling that the board will ask that the contempt fines be suspended pending the appeal.

History repeats itself

The fight over Republican nominees to the election board echoes a similar dustup two years ago when the Democrats on the Board of Commissioners twice blocked Frazier’s nomination to the county election board and the Republican Party sued.

The Democrats on the Board of Commissioners relied then on the same arguments then that they’re making now. They recognize that the law says they “shall” appoint two nominees submitted by each party, but they argue they retain some discretion.

The county Republican Party ultimately dropped the 2023 lawsuit, and Adams was appointed to that seat.