Ralston calls for GBI investigation into Fulton County elections
Featured News, Featured Stories July 16, 2021
ATLANTA, Ga – Elected officials are taking aim and Fulton County and its elections director Richard Barron, following new details regarding the 2020 election.
Speaker of the House David Ralston (R – Blue Ridge) released the letter he sent to Fulton Elections Director Richard Barron. In the letter, Ralston requests Barron ask the GBI to investigate November 2020 election. He cited the mounting allegations against Fulton County as his reasoning behind the need for an investigation.
Georgia Speaker of the House of Representatives David Ralston
“Recently, media reports have surfaced which call into question the way in which Fulton County conducted, counted and audited the November 2020 Presidential Election. These reports have been accompanied by video and other evidence which is part of on-going litigation and requires thorough examination and explanation. Given the seriousness of this situation and the possible repercussions for our state and nation, it is time we have an independent investigation – once and for all – of the way in which Fulton County conducted, counted and audited the November 2020 Presidential Election,” Ralston wrote.
Raffensperger calls for Barron’s firing
Throughout the week, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R-Ga) has issued several tweets, and last month, he held a press conference in front of headlines concerning Fulton’s lengthy history of election problems.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger
Most recently, a report of the double-counting of 200 absentee ballots came to light after the new voting law made it public.
“Fulton County’s continued failures have gone on long enough with no accountability. Rick Barron and Ralph Jones, Fulton’s registration chief, must be fired and removed from Fulton’s elections leadership immediately. Fulton’s voters and the people of Georgia deserve better,” one of Raffensperger’s tweets read.
Earlier this year, the Fulton County Elections Board voted to fire Barron, but the commissioners rejected the termination.
Another tweet stated, “Long before November, I had been working to get Fulton to clean up their decades of election mismanagement. Restoring confidence in our elections should be a bipartisan concern. Fulton County’s poor elections management is making that impossible.”
Raffensperger’s also gone on record urging Republicans to take “the lead on election regulation reform” and that the SOS assigned monitor found “significant management issues.”
Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts (D – Fulton) described Raffensperger’s call to fire Barron and Jones as a “sell out to conspiracy theorists.”
“His ultimate goal is based on the provisions of Senate Bill 202, he would like to take over the elections in Fulton County, that is not going to happen, period,” Pitts told Fox 5 Atlanta.
Under the Election Integrity Act (SB 202), the Secretary of State’s Office does have the authority to take over a county’s elections process if numerous instances of problems are documented. The Department of Justice is currently suing Georgia over the bill on the grounds that it violates voter’s civil rights.
Read the entirety of Ralston’s call for an election investigation below:
GBI investigating officer involved shooting in Dalton
News September 7, 2020
September 8th Update #1:
Jonathan Hosmer, age 47, is in police custody. Dalton Potter remains at large.
If you have any information on Potter, please contact the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office at 706-370-4900.
September 7th Update #1:
A second wanted Texas fugitive has been identified in the Whitfield County officer involved shooting. Jonathan Hosmer, age 47, was captured on a home surveillance system in a subdivision near the truck wreck last night in the Whitfield/Gordon County line. Charges are pending.
Dalton Potter is facing a charge of aggravated assault on the deputy.
If you have any information on Potter, please contact the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office at 706-370-4900.
Whitfield County, GA (September 7, 2020) – On Monday, September 7, 2020, the Georgia Bureau of Investigation was requested by the Whitfield County Sheriff’s Office to investigate an officer involved shooting in Dalton, GA.
Preliminary information indicates that Dalton Potter, age 29, a wanted Texas fugitive, was driving a stolen trailer. During a traffic stop of the stolen trailer, Potter fired numerous gunshots at Whitfield County Sheriff’s Deputy Darrell Hackney from inside his vehicle. Deputy Hackney was struck by gunfire, but his ballistic vest prevented serious injury. Deputy Hackney and responding Whitfield County Deputy Adrian Gomez returned fire, but Potter escaped driving south on I-75. Potter later wrecked the truck, and the stolen trailer was located on I-75 South near the Whitfield /Gordon County line. Potter escaped into the woods on foot and has not been captured. Potter is considered armed and dangerous and a “Blue Alert” has been issued for Potter’s capture.
Dalton Porter. Image courtesy of GBI.
The GBI will continue its independent investigation. Once completed, it will be turned over to the Whitfield County District Attorney’s Office for review.