Complaint and Court Filings: American Oversight v. Georgia Secretary of State — Records Related to Elections

Government corruption at the state level has flourished — and has often gone unchecked thanks to the decline in local journalism and the urgency of addressing federal misconduct. With one party controlling the governorship and both legislative houses in more than half of the states, feeble checks on power combined with underutilized state open records laws have allowed state and local governments to avoid the same scrutiny devoted to federal agencies. American Oversight’s State Accountability Project is filling the void, channeling its expertise in open records litigation to expose state-level corruption and threats to democracy.

State “voter fraud” task forces have cropped up across the country. Behind language about ensuring fair elections, the groups use the specter of widespread voter fraud to undermine confidence in elections and dissuade voters from participating in democracy, including through mail-in ballots.

Despite a strong open records law, Georgia’s secretary of state tried to stonewall our requests for records related to voting rights and election administration. We’re still investigating the state’s administration of elections, as well as the work of its voter fraud task force.