Members of Georgia’s State Election Board and a significant portion of its professional staff coordinated with an activist group led by conservative attorney Cleta Mitchell in the period leading up to the midterm elections, according to a report by ProPublica. The report, based on recordings of private calls and internal documents, indicates that board members and staff worked with the Election Integrity Network (EIN) and allied organizations on shared priorities, including the use of a software tool called ELLY to search voter rolls for purportedly suspicious voters.
The Georgia State Election Board is responsible for setting election rules in the swing state, overseeing local election officials, and investigating allegations of fraud. ProPublica found that at least three of the board’s eight-person professional staff participated in EIN meetings, including individuals who handle allegations of voter fraud. James Mills, the board’s executive director, has also worked closely with EIN members, according to five sources with knowledge of the interactions, board documents, and communications reviewed by ProPublica.
What the Left Is Saying
Critics argue that this coordination represents a capture of state election infrastructure by partisan actors. Max Flugrath, a director at Fair Fight Action, a voting advocacy nonprofit that has tracked the board’s actions, stated that Trump allies used the State Election Board to maintain claims of a stolen 2020 election and to tilt Georgia elections toward Republicans. "EIN was the behind-the-scenes driver spearheading these changes," Flugrath said.
The involvement of current and former board members, including Vice Chair Janelle King and former Chair Janice Johnston, has raised concerns about the independence of the board’s staff. The board’s current chair, John Fervier, acknowledged in an interview that he had sensed an outside force shaping the board’s actions. "The more I look into this, the more I’m realizing that the Election Integrity Network has been having an undue influence on the State Election Board, and that needs to cease," Fervier said. He has called a special meeting to discuss personnel matters in response to these findings.
What the Right Is Saying
Supporters of the board’s actions and the EIN’s involvement frame the coordination as necessary for election integrity and accountability. Garland Favorito, an EIN leader and head of VoterGA, defended the board’s executive director and staff, stating that they had made "remarkable historical progress" in holding election officials accountable. "The Executive Director and staff deserve raises for amazing performances, not threats of termination," Favorito wrote on social media, warning that potential votes to terminate staff members could "destroy the SEB as we now know it."
Janice Johnston, who retired from the board in June but remains active in state election matters, described her ongoing involvement as a matter of principle. "I’m all about election integrity, wherever it comes from," Johnston said in interviews in late September. She also acknowledged her continued engagement with board affairs, noting, "It gets in your blood." Janelle King, the current vice chair, stated that while she spoke with activists from EIN and VoterGA, they did not influence her decisions, and she saw no problem with EIN activists working for the board.
What the Numbers Show
The State Election Board consists of five members and employs eight professional staff members. ProPublica reports that at least three of those eight staff members participated in Election Integrity Network meetings. Additionally, five sources with knowledge of interactions between Executive Director James Mills and EIN members confirmed the close working relationship. The board’s current vice chair, Janelle King, was appointed by the Republican-led Georgia House in 2024, while her predecessor, Janice Johnston, retired from the board in June.
The Bottom Line
The coordination between Georgia’s election officials and the Election Integrity Network has brought the independence of the state’s election oversight body into focus. Chair John Fervier has scheduled a special meeting to address personnel matters, which could result in changes to the board’s staff leadership. The outcome of these discussions may influence how future elections are administered in Georgia, particularly regarding the use of software tools like ELLY for voter roll maintenance. ProPublica notes that the EIN’s influence has enabled the board to enlist county help in removing voters from rolls based on ELLY data, a practice that remains a point of contention between election integrity advocates and voting rights organizations.