Sign up for the Roswell Patch newsletter!

---

The State Election Board on Thursday approved a consent agreement that levies a $180,000 fine against the Fulton County Board of Registrations and Elections for violation state election laws during the 2008 and 2012 general elections.

The violations include failure to place voters in correct precincts, failure to update the supplemental voter list, failure to timely process address changes and other registration documents, failure to provide official voter lists to all precincts, failure to provide absentee ballots to all voters who requested them, failure to process all provisional ballots, failure to complete required paperwork to ensure the accuracy of the election and other violations.

These violations led to qualified voters not being allowed to cast ballots, the Georgia Secretary of State's Office said on Thursday in a news release.

The agreement has already been approved by Fulton County.

"I am glad that we were able to come to an agreement with Fulton County on these issues," said Secretary of State Brian Kemp, chairman of the State Election Board. "The size of this fine shows that Fulton County recognized there were serious issues in how it administered these elections, and I believe they are committed to fixing these issues going forward. The State Election Board has not and will not stand for violations of state election law. Anything that leads to qualified voters not being able to cast a ballot is completely unacceptable, and I applaud Fulton County for recognizing and fixing these issues. I also applaud the State Election Board for standing up for the right to vote."

Kemp added he believes the fine "accurately reflects the seriousness of the issues and lets everyone know that violations of state election law will not be tolerated." He also said the fine is the largest one levied since January 2010, the year he assumed office.

The Fulton County Commission last week approved spending more than $200,000 to correct issues that they say led to the problems during the 2008 and 2012 elections.

---

Image via Shutterstock

Subscribe