Members of the Fayette County Republican Party (FCRP) believe very strongly that trust and confidence in our voting process is paramount to a free society, and that public officials should aggressively support every effort to uncover voter fraud.
To that end, the FCRP sought to replace its own Board of Elections member who had thwarted her own board’s investigation into voter fraud – fraud that the Georgia Office of State Administrative Hearings concluded did, in fact, occur. However, the county commissioners failed to certify the FCRP’s properly-designated replacement.
After forcing the matter into the courts, the commission went on to seek $30,000 of attorney fees from the very group that exposed the fraud. While I am deeply disappointed by an appellate court’s decision not to hear our case, I am not totally surprised in light of the County Commission’s refusal to provide key information from the underlying public trial.
I find their decisions a blatant disregard of Fayette County government’s stated mission to “remain open and accessible to all citizens” and to “generate trust and confidence.”
Far beyond this individual case, however, are those decisions’ chilling effects on citizens and groups seeking to expose the abuse of public trust, position, or corruption. And that should be a grave concern to all residents of Fayette County, regardless of their political leanings.
Tyrone Jones, Chairman, FCRP
Fayetteville, Ga.
