South Fulton Today

The Georgia State Election Board held a meeting last month in order to reassure board members and the general public that the state’s elections remain secure following the revelation of a breach of voting equipment in one county, a recent report by FOX 5 Atlanta said.

The meeting—which included a presentation on state election law, an explanation of the state’s voting machines and a description of post-election audits—showed attendees a report on the breach of voting equipment in Coffee County.

"I think what happened in Coffee County was despicable," board Chairman William Duffey, a retired federal judge, told FOX 5 Atlanta after the meeting. "If the investigation finds evidence of crimes, the penalties should be significant to let people there and in other counties know that we are not going to put up with that."

During the gathering, Democratic Party board appointee Sara Tindall Ghazal argued that elections have to balance three "sometimes-competing interests," the FOX 5 report said. She identified the elements as security, accessibility and efficient administration; adding that she has trust in “our election officials and in our voters to ensure that our elections will proceed smoothly and securely and that the outcome will reflect the will of the voters.”

Documents already presented before the court showed that a computer forensics team hired by allies of then-President Donald Trump traveled to the elections office in Coffee County on Jan. 7, 2021, where they allegedly made complete copies of data and software on elections equipment and took the data away from the facility; the FOX 5 report said. Security camera footage from the elections office showed local Republican Party and county election officials present when the copying took place. Two men who had previously been involved with efforts to question the results of the 2020 election in a number of states reportedly visited the Coffee County elections office several times later that month, spending hours inside.