Spalding County Moves to Defund Dominion 

Last night, in a strategic move, the Spalding County Board of Commissioners voted to reduce the Board of Elections budget by $85,000.

This was the annual budget review for the non-partisan board. The Board of Commissioners doesn’t have jurisdiction to order the Board of Elections to ditch dominion and move to paper ballots, however, the Commissioners did what they have authority to do, which is to remove some of the funding, communicate a consensus, and make ‘the ask’ for paper ballots. They instructed the Board of Elections to “take whatever action they need to, including potentially moving to paper ballots instead of machines” as reported by the Georgia Record. 

The meeting was not heavily attended, nor contentious. The vote was 5-0 unanimous in favor of the reallocation. 

“ A new elections board was put in place and I’ve been walking alongside them every step of the way,” said Holly Kesler.

Kesler hopes to assist other counties to follow the example of Spalding County. “I’m writing a playbook for honest, transparent elections.”

Following the release of the Halderman report, which revealed numerous vulnerabilities in the Dominion electronic voting system, election integrity activists are more committed than ever to bringing about meaningful reform to ensure honest elections. 

A decision to move to paper ballots would result in a significant cost savings to the taxpayers of Spalding County. When it comes time to renew the Dominion contracts, which is done at the county level, having limited funds will incentivize the Board to look at other options other than the expensive Dominion machines. 

GRA President and attorney Alex Johnson submitted a letter in support of the Spalding County paper ballot effort that was read in the meeting. The letter writes “…it appears that there are county attorneys that consistently are attempting to cause fear among public officials, namely Board of elections Members and County commissioners, in order to discourage them from exercising any power or authority to increase trust in our election system.”

The letter references several sections in the Georgia Code that provide strong legal support for a county’s decision to move to use paper ballots instead of the Dominion machines. 

The letter further states “… it is my opinion that it would be both appropriate and legal to implement the use of paper ballots in the upcoming election to ensure its smooth conduct and the maintenance of public trust.”

The Georgia Record reported: “With fewer than 30,000 votes to process, the county should easily be able to run paper-only elections and count those ballots by hand at the precinct and have them reported accurately and in timely fashion.”

“The synergy of the Board of Commissioners right now is leading Spalding County in a new direction that is beneficial for all parties,” said GRA member Michelle Cobb. “The money that was reallocated from the unknown special election funding to the Land Bank was the best use of the funds considering the state of our community, post-tornados.”

The Spalding County Board of Elections will hold their next meeting on July 11th and election integrity activists across Georgia are eagerly awaiting their decision.

The Georgia Republican Assembly will now mobilize patriots across our state to show support for those commissioners that represent the 37th largest county in Georgia and who are, despite great opposition from the swamp creatures in Atlanta, standing up for safe, secure, and trustworthy elections. 

If you would like to send a message of gratitude to the Spalding County Commissioners, you may do so at this web page.