By Brianna Lyman
Two Fulton County, Georgia, workers were fired Friday after allegations surfaced that they shredded voter registration applications over the last two week.
Georgia Sec. of State Brad Raffensperger called for the Department of Justice (DOJ) to investigate in a Monday statement.
“After 20 years of documented failure in Fulton County elections, Georgians are tired of waiting to see what the next embarrassing revelation will be,” Raffensperger said in a statement. “The Department of Justice needs to take a long look at what Fulton County is doing and how their leadership disenfranchises Fulton voters through incompetence and malfeasance.”
“The voters of Georgia are sick of Fulton County’s failures,” he added.
Two unidentified workers allegedly shredded 300 municipal election-related ballots prior to the election, Fulton County Registration & Elections Director Richard Barron announced Monday.
A preliminary investigation found employees might have checked the applications out for processing but rather than fully processing them, the employees allegedly shredded some of the forms. The duo was reported Friday morning and terminated the same day after fellow employees reported them, according to authorities.
But state law requires ballots to be preserved for 24 months after the election, according to Raffensperger.
“Elections are the most important function of our government,” Fulton County Commission Chairman Robb Pitts said. “We have committed to transparency and integrity.”
Under Georgia’s new election law, Raffensperger is participating in a review that “could lead to a replacement of the leadership of Fulton County’s elections.”
The incident is currently under review by Raffensperger’s office.
Raffensperger has been outspoken against Fulton County’s alleged election mishandling, telling the Daily Caller News Foundation (DCNF) in July he would call for the State Election Board to instill “new authority” if the county “doesn’t take action to clean their own house.” (RELATED: Georgia Prosecutors Investigating Alleged 2020 Election Interference)
His comments came after it was reported that roughly 200 ballots were originally scanned twice before being corrected in the recount for the 2020 presidential election. The double-counted ballots were discovered by voters who sued to review the 147,000 absentee ballots, but authorities say there is no indication any of the duplicates were included in the official recount.