A state judge ruled last week to hold the Fulton County, Georgia Board of Commissioners in civil contempt after Democrats blocked the appointment of two election deniers to the board of elections.

Wednesday, September 3

View in browser ([link removed] )

NL-Header_EOTR-1 ([link removed] )

team-photos-Matt-Cohen-150x150 ([link removed] )

A Georgia judge ruled last week to hold the Fulton County Board of Commissioners in contempt after Democrats blocked the appointment of two election deniers to the board of elections. But the saga is not over. Also in this week’s newsletter: The Tea Party Patriots are coming to D.C. to advance their plan to pass the SAVE Act and a Colorado anti-voting group pushed local election officials to meet about “election integrity” efforts.

As always, thanks for reading.

Matt Cohen, senior reporter



Last chance! Spots are filling up for our exclusive live podcast with Marc Elias and Heather Cox Richardson. Together, they’ll expose how right-wing extremism and GOP attacks on democracy are shaping our future.

Don’t miss behind-the-scenes access and a powerful conversation on defending our rights. ([link removed] )





RESERVE YOUR SPOT
([link removed] )



Court fines Fulton County board — but rejects GOP push to jail Democratic officials

- A state judge ruled ([link removed] ) last week to hold the Fulton County, Georgia Board of Commissioners in civil contempt after Democrats blocked the appointment of two election deniers to the board of elections.

- The Board was to pay a fine of $10,000 a day until it appointed Julie Adams and Jason Frazier — the Fulton GOP’s election denier nominees — to the county board of elections. But the order was temporarily paused ([link removed] ) after an appeal by the Democratic commissioners. Though the fine will not take effect as the appeal is considered, the Board is still required to appoint Adams and Frazier.

- Putting Adams and Frazier on the board could make it easier for the GOP to impose restrictive voting rules, or even to subvert results, in this Democratic stronghold.

- Republican board member Bridget Thorne said ([link removed] ) in a local interview that the Fulton GOP’s lawsuit over the issue is backed by the Republican National Committee (RNC). “We’re fortunate enough to have the RNC paying and backing us,” she said. “There’s no limit to fighting it.”

- The Fulton Board of Commissioners convenes to vote on Adams’ and Frazier’s appointments again today; it’s not clear if Democrats on the board will vote to confirm them.

The Tea Party Patriots double down on their plan to pressure the Senate to pass the SAVE Act

- On a recent episode of Steven Bannon’s podcast, Tea Party Patriots co-founder and anti-voting activist Jenny Beth Martin outlined ([link removed] ) her group’s strategy to pass the SAVE Act: pressure Republicans in the Senate to attach ([link removed] ) it to must-pass legislation before the fiscal year ends.

- Martin and the Tea Party Patriots are currently on a nationwide bus tour to pressure the Senate to pass the SAVE Act, which one voting rights expert described ([link removed] ) to Democracy Docket as “the most extraordinary attack on voting rights in American history.” The tour will culminate ([link removed] ) with a rally on Capitol Hill Wednesday, September 10 where anti-voting activists will deliver petition signatures directly to members of Congress.

- “We need the Senate to take action,” Martin told Bannon. “And our goal is to get it attached to must-pass legislation in September as they’re dealing with government funding.”

A Colorado anti-voting group pushed local election officials to meet about ‘election integrity’ efforts

- The Colorado Institute For Fair Elections (COIFFE), an anti-voting group that’s part of Cleta Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network (EIN), recently sent letters ([link removed] ) to election clerks and recorders in all of Colorado’s 64 counties demanding to meet and discuss “election integrity” efforts.

- The group said they wanted to “talk solutions” with local election officials on voter roll accuracy, election audits, public access to voting records, chain of custody issues and “inadequate drop box video surveillance.”

- COIFFE said that only two recorders responded to their letters, and only one of those recorders — El Paso County Recorder Steve Schleiker (R) — agreed to meet with COIFFE. He reportedly described COIFFE's recommendations on chain-of-custody as "common sense."

- As we get closer to the midterm election season, we can expect to see more of these grassroots anti-voting groups — especially all the ones working with EIN — engaging in similar activities. And you can count on Democracy Docket to keep an eye on their activities and expose their efforts to undermine elections.

Impact report: Our scoop on DHS hiring anti-voting activist Heather Honey

- Last week, I published ([link removed] ) a scoop about the U.S. Department of Homeland Security (DHS) hiring Heather Honey, a leading election conspiracy theorist who has misrepresented voting data for a mysterious new role as “deputy assistant secretary for elections integrity.”

- The news was picked up by a myriad of major news outlets, including the Associated Press ([link removed] ) , Washington Post ([link removed] ) , ProPublica ([link removed] ) , VoteBeat ([link removed] ) , Al Jazeera ([link removed] ) , and others.

- It’s just the latest example of how Democracy Docket’s original reporting is helping shine a light on the threats posed by the Trump administration and the GOP to fair elections. And with the 2026 and ‘28 elections fast approaching, we’re just getting started.

Facebook ([link removed] )

X ([link removed] )

Instagram ([link removed] )

Bluesky_Logo-grey (2) ([link removed] )

YouTube ([link removed] )

Website ([link removed] )

TikTok ([link removed] )

This is one of our free weekly newsletters. If you were forwarded this email, you can subscribe to our newsletters here ([link removed] ) . For questions or help with your subscription, please visit our Help Center. ([link removed] )

Unsubscribe ([link removed] ) | Manage Preferences ([link removed] )

Democracy Docket, LLC

250 Massachusetts Avenue, Suite 400

Washington, D.C., 20009