Georgia election board settles ethics lawsuit over private emails for $50,000 | Georgia
The Georgia state election board settled a lawsuit filed by a watchdog over access to board members’ emails for $50,000 and a deal to conduct future business without using private email.
The agreement requires the Republican-controlled panel, which continues to push for additional investigations into the results of the 2020 presidential election in Georgia, to instruct its members to use official email accounts and “not use personal email accounts, text messages, or messaging through other applications for this purpose.”
American Oversight filed the lawsuit in October 2024 after a request through the Georgia Open Records Act revealed that board member Janice Johnston used her private Gmail account to conduct board business and refused to turn over those emails after the request.
At that time, American Oversight sent an official letter He called for Georgia’s inspector general, attorney general and other state officials to conduct an investigation into violations of Georgia’s open records and open meetings laws. The case became a point of contention with the Republican-dominated board when the state attorney general, Chris Carr, said his office would not defend the board against the lawsuit, as is the case in cases where government agencies face legal action.
The agreement specifically refers to Snapchat, Signal, and other apps with disappearing message functions as “ephemeral messaging apps.”
“They will ensure that such messages are captured and stored simultaneously until they are forwarded to the relevant government email accounts, and that Members are instructed that such messages should be produced in response to any situation. [Open Records Act] “A request covering such messages.”
Chioma Chukwu, executive director of American Oversight, said in a statement that the agreement makes clear that election officials must comply with transparency requirements.
“When officials who continue to challenge the results of the 2020 election are tasked with ensuring ‘fair, legal and orderly elections’ in Georgia — but do so behind closed doors — the integrity of our elections is at risk,” he said. “No Georgian should question whether they should be disenfranchised simply because those running elections disagree with their views.”
After the lawsuit was filed, Johnston’s partisan supporters began contributing to an account for his legal expenses, raising almost $30,000. Voting rights observers who monitor board activities have questioned the appropriateness of someone protesting before the board — voting rights activist and Georgia Republican board member Salleigh Grubbs, whose proposal to compensate the state election board is up for negotiation — setting up an endowment fund for a board member. Critics also called the donations (specifically an anonymous $10,000 donation) a potential violation of state ethics laws.
The lawsuit resolves the complaint without admission of liability under the law by the board or Johnston.
American Surveillance continues to monitor relevant case He claimed the Georgia election board violated the Georgia Open Meetings Act.
