Georgia’s State Election Board refers 35 voter fraud cases to prosecutors

The State Election Board has referred 35 cases of election-law violations, including some involving metro Atlantans, to the attorney general or local district attorneys for criminal prosecution, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s office announced.

“Election fraud is not tolerated in Georgia. When there is evidence of it, the people responsible face prosecution,” Raffensperger, who chairs the five-member board, said in a news release. “Georgia has multiple safeguards in place that allow our team of investigators to discover fraudulent voting. They worked to catch the wrongdoing in these cases, and they maintain the security of Georgia elections.”

In the release, Raffensperger’s office stated the board made its decision at its meeting the previous day. The office’s investigation division has 23 sworn officers with arrest power and extensive experience as detectives in law enforcement. They look into allegations of voting irregularities and present their findings to the board, which can levy fines, issue a letter of instruction or refer the case for prosecution.

The cases bound over for prosecution include four incidents of felons voting or registering to vote, four cases of non-residents voting or registering to vote and one case of misplaced ballots during the 2020 general election, which didn’t change the outcome but did affect the total. Canvassers for two organizations trying to register people to vote, including one who allegedly submitted registration applications they knew were false, also were bound over for prosecution.

Some of the organizations and metro Atlantans accused of election fraud, according to the release, are:

♦ The New Georgia Project which allegedly submitted 1,268 voter registration applications after the 10-day deadline, causing voters to be disenfranchised in the March 19, 2019 special election

♦ Samunta Shomine Pittman of Atlanta for allegedly submitting 70 false voter registration applications while canvassing for the Coalition for the People’s Agenda

♦ Joseph Lee Blackmon of Atlanta for allegedly registering to vote while serving a felony sentence

♦ Hassan Dawud Musaddiq of Decatur for allegedly voting while serving a felony sentence

♦ Sharmaine Swift of Lithonia for allegedly submitting a false voter registration application

♦ Clifton Seymour Salmon of Fairburn for allegedly registering to vote as a non-resident

The Neighbor has requested the full list of cases from a spokesman for Raffensperger’s office and is awaiting his response.