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ATLANTA (AP) — The Georgia State Election Board on Wednesday voted to dismiss a lawsuit seeking to enforce a subpoena against a conservative group that was unable to produce evidence to support its claims of ballot stuffing in the state.
Texas-based True the Vote in 2021 filed complaints with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, including one in which it said it had obtained “a detailed account of coordinated efforts to collect and deposit ballots in drop boxes across metro Atlanta” during the November 2020 election and a crucial runoff election for two U.S. Senate seats in January 2021.
Investigators with the secretary’s office looked into the group’s complaints and in April 2022 subpoenaed True the Vote for evidence supporting its allegations. A lawyer for the group wrote to a state attorney in May 2023 that a complete response would require it to identify people to whom it had pledged confidentiality and said it was withdrawing its complaints.
Then-State Election Board chair William Duffey responded that the group had made “serious allegations” and that he wouldn’t allow the complaints to be withdrawn. He asked the state attorney general’s office to enforce the subpoenas, and the board filed a lawsuit.
A Fulton County judge in November 2023 ordered True the Vote to provide evidence it had collected, including the names of people it said had provided information. The organization said in a subsequent court filing it had no names, contact information or other documentary evidence to provide. The case was administratively closed in January 2024.
Election Board member Janice Johnston on Wednesday proposed dismissing the lawsuit, withdrawing the subpoena and dismissing the group’s complaint. She said it is apparent that an alleged whistleblower whom True the Vote said it was relying on for evidence “will not be identified or cannot be identified” and that the investigation was unlikely to be successful as a result.
After a brief discussion, the board voted to approve Johnston’s proposal.
Catherine Engelbrecht, president of True the Vote, said in an emailed statement that the organization welcomes the dismissal of the case, which she described as “a legal dispute that never should have begun.” She said the organization “remains committed to our mission.”
True the Vote’s allegations that people engaged in ballot stuffing in Georgia were relied upon heavily for “2000 Mules,” a widely debunked film by conservative pundit and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza to cast doubt on the results of the 2020 presidential election. A State Election Board investigation found that surveillance camera footage used in the film showed people submitting ballots for themselves and family members who lived with them, which is allowed under Georgia law.
D’Souza in December issued a statement saying “inaccurate information” was provided to him about ballot box surveillance video and apologizing to a Georgia man who was falsely accused of ballot stuffing in the film. Previously, in May, Salem Media Group, the publisher of “2000 Mules,” also publicly apologized to the same man.
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