Elbert County commissioners push back on primary election supervisor appointment

The Elbert County commissioners have come out in support of Clerk Dallas Schroeder and disagree with the “partisan political action” Secretary of State Jena Griswold took in appointing an election supervisor to monitor the county’s primary elections.

“The suspicious timing of her latest election order — issued just as voters are receiving ballots — yet based on information publicly available to her for over six months seems timed more for maximum political impact than to ensure election security or voter confidence,” the three commissioners said in a statement Monday.

Griswold, a Democrat, appointed Christi Coburn last week to supervise the primary election process in Elbert County. The county’s Republican clerk, Schroeder, made copies of the election hardware and gave them to two attorneys unauthorized to have them. That prompted an investigation from Griswold’s office, who ordered Schroeder to hand over the two copies earlier this year.

In the order appointing Coburn as election supervisor, Griswold reasoned that “the risk to election security protocols has not been resolved” in the county.

The commissioners, who are all Republicans, said that they have “full and complete confidence in the professionalism, expertise and dedication” of Schroeder. At the same time, they welcomed any observers to the election procedures and said they are confident in the trustworthiness of the county’s elections.

“We are confident that the findings of any observer will be that Elbert County meets or exceeds all standards, our citizens can be confident that their votes are correctly counted, and all can trust the results of our local elections,” they said.

Coburn will monitor Schroeder and his office’s preparation and activities throughout the primary election process and will report any noncompliance to Griswold.