Recently we reported on the discovery of an eleventh-hour, massive Fulton County order of over 1 million absentee/by mail ballots. Our reporting analyzed the explanation given by the Georgia Secretary of State Elections Coordinator, Gabriel Sterling, and found it deficient for several reasons.
Mr. Sterling claimed that the ballots were ordered to serve as a backup plan in case the machines couldn't be properly logic and accuracy tested before the election, as required by Georgia law. However, we reported that couldn't have been the reason because the ballots were ordered after early voting had already begun. Our contention was basically that the machines were already being used at the time of the order; therefore, testing couldn't have been the issue.
Ironically, we have found, and reported earlier this week, that the Fulton County voting machines were not logic and accuracy tested before the start of early voting. However, Fulton County proceeded to use the untested machines anyway. This revelation only further negates Mr. Sterling's excuse that the issue of testing precipitated the "emergency" ballot order and bolsters our reporting.
Following this week's article, former Fulton County precinct manager Bridget Thorne contacted us with this revelation:
Ms. Thorne is correct. The ballots ordered from Runbeck were ordered with "no stubs" as shown here:
A researcher, M. White, had previously provided this information, but we were unable to independently corroborate the stubs' relevance until now.
We were just made aware of another interesting issue. It seems Fulton County is destroying the "Emergency" ballots:
In addition to the obvious problem of destroying documents from the election—even if they are unused—there is an issue with the number they intend to destroy. The notice states there are only 284,901 emergency ballots remaining, but as our reporting showed, Fulton County ordered a total of 1,058,210 emergency ballots. In the notice, Fulton County claims the emergency ballots were ordered as a contingency plan and thus never needed. Gabriel Sterling said the same:
We know Fulton County ordered 1,058,210 "Emergency" ballots. Fulton County and Gabriel Sterling affirm the reason that the ballots were ordered, and both claim they were never needed. They are now planning to destroy those ballots, but for some reason only have
284,901 to destroy. Which begs the question:
Where are the missing 773,309 ballots?
More to come soon.
