In case you missed it, things got a bit tense at the 8th Congressional District GOP’s Fish Fry and State Committee meeting in Perry on August 26th. At the last minute, the host, 8th District GOP Chairman Chan Jones, decided to impose a dress code forbidding clothing displaying anything about election integrity. Jones has been an out-spoken opponent of election integrity efforts on the GA GOP State Committee. A few guests were told about the change on Friday, but most who drove several hours to the event from different corners of the state were unaware of the dress code until confronted inside the venue. Many who were wearing t-shirts from VoterGA or GeorgiansForTruth were told to remove their shirts or leave.
This effort to censure was done in violation of contract with these ticketholders. Nothing in the negotiations for the Fish Fry specified that ticketholders could not wear election-integrity themed shirts before they paid. Once the host took their money and issued them tickets without that restriction, he ceased to have the legal authority to exclude them under those conditions. They did not do anything disruptive. It is a shame that these Republican hosts would want to censure a message so near and dear to the Republican principles of the grassroots. Why would anyone be against election integrity?
There were several cellphone videos taken by attendees at the event, and a few captured highlights which have been shared widely online. One video is of a law enforcement officer—at the direction of the 8th District Chair—telling a group of attendees (including Grady County GOP Chairman Jeff Jolly and several GRA members), “All of you are criminally trespassing. If you don’t leave you’re going to be arrested,” because they were wearing voter integrity shirts.
Another video shows Sam Carnline with Georgians For Truth politely asking Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger about election integrity, and the S.o.S. nervously walked away mid-sentence without answering.
Still another video shows Sam speaking with Governor Kemp, in which Kemp says, “If you give anybody a machine they can hack it.”
After Governor Kemp left, several of our members reported that the the dress code was no longer enforced and a number of folks put back on their voter integrity shirts and wore them openly without any opposition for the remainder of time at the venue.
Thankfully, no one was arrested or injured to our knowledge. But it was shameful that anyone was put in fear that they could be arrested. Despite that this has historically been a well-known Establishment event, true patriot conservatives were numerous in attendance and really had a warm reception by most of the others there. The GRA had a table at the event space, and many folks conversed with our members in an amiable manner, took brochures, and signed the petition to investigate Fani Willis.
Volunteers at the GRA table at the Fish Fry in Perry, Georgia
In spite of the ridiculous tactics to exclude folks from our side at the venue, it was a good day overall. It was encouraging to hear that people are waking up and our members are making a positive influence on the party. 🙂
The GRA is appalled by the political prosecutions occurring in Fulton County, and their effect on undermining the fabric of our nation. The GRA strongly supports GRA-endorsed State Senator Colton Moore‘s effort to call a special emergency session to respond to these actions.
We urge you to contact your state legislators and have them sign onto Senator Colton Moore’s letter.
Since Colton released the news of his letter to the Governor, he has been interviewed by conservative media outlets from across the country, including by Charlie Kirk of TurningPoint USAand Steve Bannon. The story has gained national media attention and even been commented on by former President Donald Trump on his TruthSocial:
Atlanta, Georgia – An overflow crowd of patriots (including dozens of GRA members) from across the state attended the Georgia State Election Board meeting at the Capitol yesterday to share concerns about Georgia’s election process and to press for reforms restoring election integrity and accountability for Georgia’s persistently unreliable elections.
Activists wearing “Paper Please” T-shirts streamed in from as far as the coast and the Florida border. The room was packed to capacity with upwards of 130 people, and those who could not find a seat had to stand in the hallway, or watch proceedings from the overflow room due to the fire code restrictions. Officials expressed surprise by the unexpected size of the crowd. By the time the meeting commenced fifty people had signed up to speak and the Board knew they were in for a long morning.
Paul White, GRA member from middle Georgia, speaking at the State Board of Elections Meeting
“We deserve legal, secure and accurate elections,” said GRA Member Paul White, from middle Georgia. He referenced the five red states that turned blue in 2020: Arizona, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Wisconsin and Georgia. All five of them had changed their election laws just weeks before the 2020 election, and all five depended exclusively on Dominion voting systems.
Sam Caroline with Field Searcy outside the state capitol
Field Searcy, a GRA Member from South GA, referencing the opinion and order of Federal Judge Amy Totenberg, who found serious cause for concern in Georgia’s election system said, “If Judge Totenberg is correct and the QR code tabulated by a black box is unlawful, that means our votes are void…we have no duly elected representatives… Who has authority? Who is accountable?”
Following the meeting, Searcy led a contingent to deliver the petition submitted to the Grady County Board of Commissioners calling for paper ballots and some other documents including a letter from attorney and GRA President Alex Johnson to the Governor, Lt. Governor and Secretary of State’s offices. “Seems Chris Carr had a scowl on his face and so did the lady in the SOS office,” said Searcy.
The remedy for the various election problems was made very clear. It was repeated so many times by different speakers that the State Election Board could have had no question about the activists’ request: “Security grade, hand marked, paper ballots, counted at the precinct on election day.” The board must have heard this phrase nearly 50 times by the end of the public comments.
Amanda Prettyman speaking with the state BOE Chairman
GRA member Amanda Prettyman from Bibb County brought a large stack of paper petitions to the mic with her to display representing the many Georgians in favor of paper ballots who could not be present at the meeting. She also used the opportunity during a break to hold an impromptu meeting with the Chairman to share her concerns directly. It is reported that she gave each member of the board a copy of the book The Doctrine of the Lesser Magistrates, which declares that when the superior or higher civil authority makes an unjust or immoral law or decree, the lesser or lower ranking civil authority has both the right and duty to refuse obedience to that superior authority. This concept is sometimes called interposition, and a much needed solution for many of our nations issues.
“I have a simple request for the board: Make elections boring again!” said Brad Barnes, Etowah Republican Assembly chapter leader. “If everything was going well, we would be home. We wouldn’t be here,” said Tess Sharp, one of the activists. The fact that thousands of Georgians are showing up at their county Board of Elections meetings around the state to share concerns and their lack of trust in the accuracy or the elections system, is sending a strong message to Georgia’s election officials.
Linda Menk, GRA member from Coweta County didn’t mince words, “You said you are all volunteers, that means you’re order-takers. You take orders from Governor Kemp, ‘Ratsberger’, and Chris Carr and they are as crooked as a dog’s hind leg, and everybody in this room knows it.” The audience erupted in applause at this, despite the Chairman’s previous request to refrain from applauding.
Many concerns centered around the Dominion Ballot Marking Device which uses a QR code that is unverifiable by the voter, or anyone attempting to audit the election results, and the Halderman report which clearly lays out numerous technical vulnerabilities inherent in the Dominion system.
“In DeKalb, the only audited race, we found that the machine had picked the wrong winner,” said Kevin Parker with Citizens Defending Freedom, who is also a GRA Member, referencing a local election where a candidate, Michelle Long Spears did not receive a single vote in her own precinct, despite knowing she and her husband had voted for her in that precinct. A hand recount discovered 6,000 votes in her favor, winning her the nomination. Parker reiterated that the board must restore voting confidence in our elections, and “dump Dominion.”
GRA member Sondra Martin from Cherokee County asked, “What do you have to lose by listening to the people that you serve? Is there a reason why paper ballots is not a good idea?”
Many of the attendees were appalled by the polytheistic prayer with which Chairman William Duffey opened the meeting. “To the god which we believe, whether it’s a Christian god, or a Muslim god, or a Jewish god, or any other god, or any other faith—we ask that you be present with all of us, including those who have no faith at all. We would like for everybody to be comforted by that which they call [inaudible] for comfort….
Several of the activists found the prayer so offensive, they added a comment about it during their allotted two minutes of speaking time. Sondra Martin called it “a non-prayer to non-gods.” Perhaps there is a connection between the lawlessness displayed by government officials and their lack of belief in the God of the Bible who judges kings and rulers by His unchanging standard of justice and who ultimately provides accountability for our actions. Thankfully, we can rest confident that God’s authority over and accountability for government leaders is not dependent on man’s recognition of that authority.
For more information on how to submit a petition to your Board of Commissioners or Board of Elections download templates here.
Thankfully, the GA GOP still has a few good Republican legislators whom the GRA and the Freedom Caucus have supported. These include A-rated legislators such as State Senator Colton Moore (R-Dade), State Rep. Charlice Byrd (R-Cherokee), and State Senator Greg Dolezal (R-Forsyth). All three of these candidates were GRA-endorsed in the Republican primaries last year, supported financially by our GRA-PAC, and handily won their elections. They have proven to be worth the investment.
Overall, however, in the last legislative session, the Republican-led legislature dramatically shifted to the left. Not just a little bit. What we mean is that we have never had so many “Republican” legislators score with a failing grade!
In the Republican Party, we often hear folks rightly say that “an 80% friend is not a 20% enemy.” The problem is that for the vast majority of “Republican” legislators at the state capitol, they are not an “80% friend.” They are not even a “50% friend” when you honestly compare their voting record to the Republican Party platform.
We have the vast majority of Republicans in the state legislature who vote more often for Democrat policies than they do for Republican policies. If we look, for example, at the 2023 GA State House, we observe that 89% of the Republican Caucus scored an “F” rating in the last session!
That is why the GRA exists. To combat this “Uniparty” trend in the GOP.
In the State Senate, it was only a little bit better. Only 24% of “Republican” State Senators scored an “F” there. But 73% still scored a “D” or lower — which still means they voted more often for Democrat policies than for Republican policies!
No wonder we are seeing our state becoming increasingly Leftist under so-called “Republican” control! Most of our elected officials serving in Atlanta at the state capitol literally are “RINOs.” That is not merely a pejorative term. That is a fact. We might as well call them “Democrats” because they are only Republicans in label.
One of the worst examples is State House Rep. Sharon Cooper (R-Cobb) who is the Chairwoman of the powerful House Public Health Committee. You may remember how Rep. Cooper blocked pro-life and medical freedom legislation in her committee last session so that it was not even allowed to come up for a vote. Meanwhile, she fast-tracked big-government socialism & corporate welfare expansions, such as with the omnibus so-called “Mental Health” H.B. 520.
For some odd reason, our friends at the Faith & Freedom Coalition gave Cooper a “100% rating” — but they did this by only evaluating her on seven bills! They excluded egregious bills like H.B. 520. If you see our scorecard, you’ll see we evaluated House legislators on 55 controversial bills and 16 controversial sponsorships that pitted Republican policies against Democrat policies. Based on her performance on this legislation, Cooper actually scored an abysmal 30% (F)!
That means there were 53 Democrats in the State House who scored equal to or better than so-called “Republican” Sharon Cooper last legislative session. Thankfully, this week Christian family groups with Operation Save America are canvassing with literature in Cooper’s East Cobb district to make sure her constituents know how poorly she has performed. This is in conjunction with their national conference taking place in Douglasville, Georgia this week.
As a result of this kind of trend, GA GOP Chairman Josh McKoon has appointed an Accountability Committee to investigate options such as adopting the proposed Accountability Rule so that delegates at state conventions could vote to preclude incumbents from qualifying again to run as Republicans in future primaries. In the absence of the Accountability Rule being adopted, the GA GOP Executive Committee or State Committee could vote to preclude incumbents in similar fashion since this is a 1st Amendment-protected right. Meanwhile, in several local county party organizations, GOP groups have already started to adopt their own versions of the Accountability Rule.
Help us spread the word about the 2023 Legislative Vote Scorecard, and let us know if you can help us recruit new Republican candidates to run in next year’s Republican primary for state legislative offices.
Memphis, TN — A group of GRA Board Members travelled out to the banks of the Mississippi River near Elvi’s old home town this week to conduct an outreach at the 2023 FreedomFest. GRA & NFRA President Alex Johnson, junior GRA NFRA Director Catherine Bernard, senior GRA NFRA Director Nathaniel Darnell, GRA 3rd Vice President Abigail Darnell, and Fulton RA chapter President Nick Cooper served as the volunteers in the outreach.
In addition to hosting a table in the Vendor Hall of the event, the GRA NFRA Director and attorney Catherine Bernard participated as a speaker in one of the sessions, performing a mock trial opposite presidential candidate Larry Elder. At one point in the trial, she cross examined Jim Geraghty, the Senior Political Correspondent for National Review.
The FreedomFest drew an ecclectic collection of speakers and attendees from around the country, including such notables as Steve Forbes of Forbes Magazine and presidential candidates Vivek Ramaswamy and Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Greeting visitors at the NFRA tableWith Steve ForbesCatherine cross-examines National Review journalist
Today the GRA Board met in Dalton, Georgia. The GRA Board consists of the GRA Executive Committee officers, the Presidents of the local county and regional chapters, and the Chairmen of our standing committees or action groups.
We appreciate Northwest GA RA President Eddie Caldwell hosting the meeting. Eddie was this year also elected the Whitfield County GOP Chairman.
Participants had the opportunity to review the successes of our outreach efforts over the course of the year, examine ways to improve, and to plan for new projects up-coming.
GRA 1st Vice President Brant Frost V speaking with GRA President Alex Johnson
Among the decisions made at the meeting, the Board determined that the date of the next GRA State Convention would be held on Saturday, December 9th at a location in metro-Atlanta to be announced later.
The Board also voted to approve a new scholarship fund to provide financial aid to help low-income patriots in paying for registration at conventions. Similar programs have been adopted in county GOPs where GRA members are in leadership. For example, the Catoosa County GOP (led by our GRA Secretary Joanna Hildreth) this year was able to pay to cover the cost of all their delegates who travelled to Columbus for the GA GOP State Convention.
County Board of Elections representing the Republican Party. She was appointed to that position by Cobb GOP Chairwoman Salleigh Grubbs, who is also a Cobb GRA member. Debbie Fisher has been a tireless activist for election integrity in the county since the 2020 election.
Debbie Fisher (center) with GRA NFRA Director Nathaniel Darnell (right) & GRA 3rd Vice President Abigail Darnell (left) & baby Patience
A previous President for the Cobb chapter of the GRA, Debbie Fisher also served with Salleigh Grubbs on her Executive Committee in the Cobb GOP during the last term, and she has been active on the Government Accountability Task Force with Christine Rozman. Not afraid of uphill battles, Debbie campaigned hard in the primary for the Cobb RA’s endorsed candidate Larry Savage when he ran against Mike Boyce for Cobb Commission Chairman after Boyce pushed through a plan to raise taxes in Cobb County. She has frequently monitored the activities of both the Cobb County Commission and Board of Elections and helped to keep her other local Republicans aware of the details on what was going on.
We expect that Debbie Fisher will apply herself with the same level of dedication and scrutiny that she has applied to all of her previous endeavors. She will be an ever-vigilant proponent for honest elections and will do her utmost to expose any suspicious activity and bring accountability where appropriate.
Debbie Fisher is succeeding another Cobb GRA member Pat Gartland on the Cobb Board of Elections. Gartland has served on the board for the last few years, and had served before under previous administrations. Fisher will officially assume her duties at the next meeting of the Cobb Board of Elections in July.
Currently, Cobb County still allows each of the local political parties to appoint a seat to the county Board of Elections. The Democrat appointee was also sworn in today. There are rumors that State Senator Ed Setzler (R-37) is looking to put forward legislation next year that would take this power away from the local parties and give it to the county commissioners, similar to what was recently done in Cherokee County. We believe this would be a terrible mis-step, and hope local Republican activists would make an outcry against such an effort at the state capitol next year.
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.
Attorney & GRA President Alex Johnson
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.
On Tuesday evening, the Cherokee County Board of Commissioners met to appoint four new members to the Board of Elections. The Board of Commissioners there is made up of four Republicans, who could have appointed four strong, election integrity candidates to serve in those positions, yet three of their choices did not reflect a concern for integrity, nor for the will of the people.
Beth Mercure
GRA member Beth Mercure, an accountability-minded election integrity activist and Republican precinct officer in the county said: “I am very happy to announce they appointed Larry Hand, but very disappointed by the lost opportunity for them to do the right thing by The People!” Larry Hand has been a member of the North Metro Republican Assembly since September of 2022.
At the meeting, an argument was made that, since Cherokee County votes roughly 75% Republican, perhaps the appointments should reflect that voting percentage, with three Republicans and one Democrat. After all, the Board of Commissioners consists of four Republicans and no Democrats.
Those present reported that all the constituents who spoke at the meeting, except for one, were in favor of the 3-1 allotment. Nevertheless, this suggestion was ignored.
Of the two Republicans who were appointed, one of them appears to have been a nomination from a brand new group outside the official Cherokee County Republican Party. This is an unprecedented move, though not entirely outside of the legal parameters of the commissioners, under a brand new law that was recently passed.
Richard Jordan
North Metro RA President Richard Jordan from Cherokee expressed more optimism about being able to possibly work with both of the two Republican appointments to the local Board of Elections to advance election integrity, even though one of them was not nominated by the official Cherokee GOP.
“Another controversy is whether and how the different factions of the Republican Party should be represented. The new leadership of the local Republican Party is mostly supported by those who seriously doubt the integrity of the elections process and want to make major changes,” wrote Harry Johnston, Chairman of the Cherokee Board of Commissioners.
“But I believe there’s an equal or larger group of local Republicans who believe elections have been substantially fair and accurate, at least in Cherokee County. I’m in that group. The BOC may decide to appoint one BOER member from each of these two Republican groups.”
Clearly election integrity is a central, defining issue that has dominated the recent changes in the Republican Party. Many activists in the GOP believe that evidence of vulnerabilities in Georgia’s elections system such as the Halderman Report reveal simply cannot be ignored any longer. This evening Gwinnett County will also be having a Board of Elections meeting where activists hope to make an impression.
The Accountability Rule Goes Local
One recourse that the Cherokee GOP, and other Republican organizations in red counties are considering is to adopt their own local version of the Accountability Rule. While the state GOP is still considering the implications of the proposal, local county GOPs may provide a testing ground to assure more people it could succeed at a state-wide level.
County parties have the constitutional authority to qualify Republican candidates for county commissioner races, and if they believe a commissioner is not working in the interests of the Republican cause, they can vote to block incumbent commissioners from running for re-election as a Republican in the next primary election.
Already, in several solid red counties where the GRA has helped the grassroots to win this year during conventions season, GOP organizations are planning how they could implement their own version of the Accountability Rule against wayward “Republican” commissioners come next March. These counties often find themselves in the unpleasant position of having Democrats run as Republicans (because no Democrat would be elected out-right in these rural districts otherwise). While election integrity is a large concern, constituents are also concerned about other bad policies being foisted on them, such as interference with the free market in rural places where restrictions have been added against farming chickens and other livestock. Corporate cronyism at the county level has also been a subject of scorn.
So-called “Republican” county commissioners may be running under a different banner next year if they don’t listen to their local GOP leaders.
Angela Rubino with Congresswoman Marjorie Taylor Greene
This week Etowah Republican Assembly Vice President Angela Rubino, supported by many other members, spoke out against the facilitation by the Rome City Commission for the Transqueer Pride event being hosted in Heritage Park on June 24th in Rome, Georgia. The event organizers repeatedly call for children to be brought to the event in their promotional materials.
Last year’s event featured middle-aged men, dressed in secondhand thrift-store women’s clothing, doing sexualized dances for tips in full view of the children in attendance – which is illegal under city ordinances as well as Georgia law.
However, city police refused to enforce the law against such a display of left-wing politics in action. What sort of middle-aged men specifically seek out an audience of children to put on a display of this sort in a public park?
Vendors at last years event hosted in the same public park featured sex toys for sale at children’s eye level as well as women walking around bare-chested.
The currently Establishment-dominated Floyd County Republican Party, chaired by
Jamie Palmer, as well as the local Republican legislative delegation, as led by corporate lobbyist-controlled State Rep. Katie Dempsey (R-Floyd), not only refused to speak out against the event but the Floyd GOP leadership expressed vociferous criticism of Angela and others who did so. Rome Police have indicated that they will take action against people exercising their constitutional rights of free speech to peacefully assemble in public areas as they protest at this year’s “pride” event.
