In a text message after the vote, Barron said he’d hold off on commenting until after a Fulton County Board of Commissioners meeting scheduled for Wednesday. “This vote could get rejected tomorrow,” he wrote. The chairman of the Board of Commissioners did not immediately return an email seeking clarification on whether the election board’s decision needs to be approved by the commissioners.
When asked whether the commissioners’ approval is necessary, county spokeswoman Jessica Corbitt replied, “That is our understanding.” She noted that the Board of Commissioners must sign off on the hiring of an elections director.
“The legal question is whether that applies in reverse,” she said in a text message to The Associated Press.
Fulton County election board votes to fire election director
By KATE BRUMBACKFebruary 16, 2021 GMT
ATLANTA (AP) Officials in Georgia on Tuesday voted to fire the man in charge of overseeing elections in the state’s most populous county, which was frequently in the spotlight last year after a disastrous primary and attention from then-President Donald Trump.
The three members of the Fulton County Board of Elections who were in favor of terminating Rick Barron said problems caused by the coronavirus last year highlighted weaknesses in the county’s election management. They said change was necessary to modernize election processes and to restore voter confidence. Two members voted against firing Barron.
Updated at 10 a.m. on Friday.
Rick Barron managed two of the most significant and scrutinized elections in Fulton County’s history without major incident, weathering conspiracy theories spread by former president Donald Trump, as well as lawsuits, death threats, and a pandemic.
But on Tuesday, the county’s board of registration and elections voted 3-2 in favor of firing Barron, going against the wishes of the Fulton election director’s staff, who in recent days signed onto a letter in support of their boss.
In their letter, the staff described overcoming a pandemic, death threats, hostile poll watchers, a coronavirus outbreak in the county’s warehouse, and the death of a beloved employee in order to conduct a “fair and unbiased election.”