'Fox in a henhouse': Watchdogs warn election denier already disrupting Georgia voting

A Georgia election official who refused to certify last month's primary results is a member of an election denial network founded by MAGA activist Cleta Mitchell, who tried to help Donald Trump overturn his loss in multiple states.

Julie Adams was appointed to the Fulton County election board in February and abstained from certifying the May primary results, arguing that she couldn't accept them due to prior problems in the county. She also serves as regional coordinator for the right-wing Election Integrity Network, which has filed a lawsuit seeking more control over voting results, reported The Guardian.

“Julie Adams’ role on the Fulton County election board makes as much sense as inviting a fox to a seat in the henhouse,” said Stephanie Jackson Ali, policy director at the left-leaning New Georgia Project Action Fund.

Adams, who has also been affiliated with the Tea Party Patriots, has been involved in promoting EagleAI, a software that partisan vigilantes are using to challenge voters en masse. Voting rights groups and election officials have said the data sets the software relies on would be highly inaccurate and likely to sow chaos.

“I’m definitely concerned about what’s going to happen in November,” said Aunna Dennis, executive director of the Georgia chapter of the watchdog group Common Cause. “It makes me concerned about the trend that may happen in those smaller counties where it may not be publicized and it may be far harder to find out if those things have taken place.”

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Dennis said that Adams' work for EIN violated her oath as an election official, and she shared concerns with voting rights activists and officials who believe that group's work would lead to a delay in certification of the presidential election and undermine trust in the results.

“This is a transparent attempt to set the stage for that fight,” said Rep. Nikema Williams (D-GA), referring to the lawsuit Adams has filed. “The Democratic party of Georgia will continue to combat Trump’s efforts to undermine our democracy and ensure local elections are certified, which is required by law.”

Adams' suit is seeking a court ruling that would authorize county election boards to refuse to certify election results, saying her challenge seeks "transparency," but Jackson Ali said the lawsuit was an attempt by Trump allies to undermine faith in the state's election.

“Ms. Adams has made clear — in her private work for the Election Integrity Network, in her recent lawsuit against the county board, and in refusing to certify the May elections — that she is not working to make elections stronger or build voter confidence," said Jackson Ali, of the New Georgia Project Action Fund.

"Instead, Ms. Adams is beating the dead horse of fictitious stolen elections.”