The Republican National Committee is taking legal action to investigate whether one of Georgia’s largest counties illegally received private funding for its public election activities.
On May 16, the RNC filed a complaint against the DeKalb County Voter Registration and Elections Office in the Superior Court of DeKalb County, Georgia. The complaint alleges that the county did not comply with Georgia’s Open Records Act by failing to provide all public records related to its interactions with the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence.
In February 2023, DeKalb County announced it had received a $2 million grant from the Alliance. The Center for Tech and Civic Life, closely associated with the Alliance, distributed over $350 million in grants to cities and counties in 2020 to strengthen their election infrastructure.
According to tax filings, DeKalb County received a cash grant of about $9.6 million in 2020 and $2 million in fiscal year 2022 from the Center for Tech and Civic Life. The RNC’s complaint alleges that the county did not provide sufficient documentation regarding the use of these funds.
The RNC’s lawsuit aims to obtain complete records about the grant and ensure transparency in the election process. The complaint states that the county missed deadlines for providing requested records and did not disclose internal communications related to the grant.
The RNC is seeking a declaration that the requested records are public and must be disclosed, as well as injunctions to compel the defendants to produce all requested documents. The lawsuit also requests an award of attorney’s fees and other litigation costs.
Legal representatives from Chalmers, Adams, Backer & Kaufman LLC in Georgia are handling the case. The RNC has been actively pursuing election-related lawsuits in various states, including Nevada, Arizona, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin, and Georgia.
Efforts to reach the Center for Tech and Civic Life, the U.S. Alliance for Election Excellence, and DeKalb County officials for comment were unsuccessful at the time of publication.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.
Please rewrite the following sentence.
Source link
