Readers write

Legislators should reconsider election board makeup

The AJC editorial board rightly sounded the alarm about the FBI raid of the Fulton County elections office. Perhaps the scariest part for me was the participation of the State Election Board members, two of whom were present and determined to see the action underway.

Constitutionally, elections come under the purview of the states. Presumably, state election boards are charged with conducting free and fair elections within their states and safeguarding the integrity of the state’s election process.

Georgia’s current State Election Board does not appear to be focused on that charge, at least based on their bizarre behavior since the August 2024 meeting. Is this current board really the best our Georgia Legislature can do? Sadly, we currently have oath-breakers in the state Senate, one of them the lieutenant governor (and a former one now secretary of the federal Treasury).

I guess we will find out by Sine Die on April 2.

ALIDA C. SILVERMAN, ATLANTA

Lessons learned from Georgia’s 2020 election

Re: “With return to 2020, Georgia Republicans are playing with political fire,” by AJC political columnist Patricia Murphy.

Patricia Murphy this week warned us that this is not about replaying the 2020 elections (when ballots were counted three times, Trump was recorded for asking our secretary of state to “find him some votes” and was indicted for it, Giuliani lied about two poll workers and settled a lawsuit for doing so, GOP operatives went into the Coffee County elections office with the help of the elections supervisor to copy their records illegally, and some Georgia Republicans declared another slate of “alternate” electors).

No, this is about preparing for more corruption in 2026 and 2028. Trump has said this week in an interview that Republicans should federalize national elections (which is contrary to the U.S. Constitution). Our state was fortunate in 2020 to have a governor and a secretary of state who did not follow his directions and hold a special Georgia legislative session, but some of the 2020 fake electors, like Lt. Gov. Burt Jones, are still trying.

This year, Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger and Lt. Gov. Jones are candidates for governor. Raffensperger has objected to releasing voter information (partial Social Security number, date of birth, residential address, driver’s license number) just as the state of Minnesota objected to turning over the same data. The Trump Justice Department has sued 23 states to get information.

Georgians should remember six years ago and refuse to elect someone to the governor’s office who would violate state law and harm Georgians’ privacy.

CLAIR MULLER, ATLANTA

True patriots are standing up for civil rights

A journalist reporting in Minneapolis is arrested, and the court quickly releases him, recognizing freedom of the press. The Fulton County election office is swarmed by a performative FBI photo op, confiscating 2020 ballots alleging voter fraud, which has been disproven repeatedly locally and across the nation by multiple recounts and court challenges.

This is clearly a further step toward voter intimidation to manipulate the outcome of future elections. Masked, poorly trained new hires in military gear are in American city streets harassing, arresting, killing and ignoring due process.

The good news is Americans are not having it and the courts are supporting the Constitution and civil rights in the large majority of cases. It will be a long grind as we can expect more challenges to our norms, values and Constitution.