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Angered by ongoing speculation of a possible Republican-led state takeover of his county’s elections process, Fulton County Chair Robb Pitts lashed out Tuesday, vowing to fight any such tactic.
“They’re trying to set the stage for a hostile takeover of our election system because they want a political win to appease believers of a big lie, which had been my greatest fear,” Pitts said at his news conference Tuesday.
“We’re watching what’s going on,” Pitts told Atlanta Civic Circle. “We have our legal department, internal legal department, even outside, looking at exploring what our options are.” Pitts declined to elaborate on what those options might be.
The chairman’s remarks follow weeks of speculation that some state Republican lawmakers are considering a takeover of Fulton’s elections process.
The Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections has been under intense pressure over its performance. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger has repeatedly called for two of its top officials to be fired because of alleged mismanagement.
Pitt said the news reports have been a “wake-up call.”
“It was simply a validation of my belief and my public statements all along that the end game of the Big Lie and Senate Bill 202 was a takeover of our elections in Fulton County,” Pitts said.
Raffensperger was unavailable for comment Tuesday but his office sent Atlanta Civic Circle the following.
“Fulton County’s continued failures have gone on long enough with no accountability. Rick Barron and Ralph Jones, Fulton’s registration chief, must be fired and removed from Fulton’s election leadership immediately. Fulton’s voters and the people of Georgia deserve better.”
Every time we think we’ve reached the peak of Fulton’s election mismanagement issues, more comes to light. I’ve been calling for a change in Fulton since day one. Maintaining public confidence in our elections begins in Fulton County. Now, with SB 202, the State Elections Board has the authority to make that happen. If Fulton County doesn’t take action to clean their own house, then I reiterate my call that the State Election Board should use their new authority to clean it for them.”
Pitts defended Fulton’s election process.
“I’ve been involved in a number of elections throughout my political career. There has never been a perfect election,” he said. “So a mistake here or there is not uncommon. I’ve said from the first day the lies about Fulton County started, If you have any credible evidence whatsoever bring it to me. Anything that will suggest some widespread wrongdoing here in Fulton County, bring it to me.”
Three separate audits of Georgia’s 2020 election results found no evidence of widespread voter fraud.
“The basis for all of this is partisan politics and appeasing those who buy into the Big Lie,” Pitts said. “I’m prepared to fight for Fulton and our voters, until the very very end. I can’t let them get away with this in broad daylight, without a fight. If they can do this to us here in Fulton County, the largest in the state with a target on our back, they can do it to any of the other 158 counties in our great state.”
View Pitts’ press conference here.
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