ATLANTA (AP) — Reports from an independent monitor who observed election operations in Georgia’s most populous county during the 2020 election cycle detail tense encounters with party election monitors. Carter Jones wrote that transparency is imperative throughout the election process and monitors are necessary. But he said political parties must do a better job of vetting and training their monitors. He also suggested that repeat offenders be prohibited from serving as monitors in the future. Jones noted in his report that some party audit monitors “seemed to feel as though they were detectives or sheriffs and that they were going to personally ‘crack the case’ and uncover a stolen election.” He called that a “gross misunderstanding of their role.”
