Rome, GA man Mark Swanson was apparently denied his right to speak at the 12/13/22 State Election Board meeting regarding two Election Complaints he submitted a year ago.  One of the complaints was regarding problems with Absentee Ballot Drop Box laws not being following in both the 2020 General Election and the 2021 Federal Runoff Election.  The other on a variety of complaints against the Floyd County Board of Elections.  Swanson indicates that he submitted as many as 1,200 documents he obtained through Georgia Open Records requests via the County Attorney to corroborate his findings. 

You may recall Swanson and his associate read as many as 5 letters into the Floyd County Board of Commissioners meetings and its minutes, lodging numerous complaints against County Elections Officials during the summer of 2021.  The complaints were apparently regarding a host of issues he and his associate said they found using the Georgia Open Records Act. 

The Georgia Open Records Act is also known as the Georgia Sunshine law because sunlight is the best disinfectant, according to our State Legislatures that drafted and passed law into existence April 17, 2012.   The act was passed to ensure Georgian’s rights to access public information be handled in precise ways, including quick response times and minimal costs, and with the fewest exceptions possible.  According to A Citizens Guide to Open Government dated 2014 and published by then State Attorney General Sam Olens that if found on-line:

“Georgia has a long and proud tradition of encouraging openness in governmental meetings and records. As Chief Justice Weltner stated in the case of Davis v. City of Macon: “Public men and women are amenable ‘at all times’ to the people, they must conduct the public’s business out in the open.”  The Georgia Constitution states that public officials are “servants of the people.””

Armed only the Sunshine Law and his trusty computer, Swanson said he began requesting Open Records documents from Rome City and Floyd County officials regarding issues they were finding in the Floyd County Board of Elections as early as 2020.  “It was crazy just how many problems I had in gaining access to Open Records from city and county officials!” Swanson complained.

After trying to meet with the city and county commissioners to convince them to use key sections from  the newly passed SB2020 Election Integrity Act (the one that caused Major League Baseball to move its All Star game from Atlanta to Colorado), Swanson said he tried reaching out to the State Attorney General’s office and the Secretary of State’s office for help, to no avail. 

Not receiving any help so far in getting to the bottom of all the laws that appeared to be broken during those elections and subsequently against the Sunshine Law, he decided to file two formal election complaints with the Secretary of State’s formal complaint portal and hand delivered and submitted over 1,200 documents to support his findings.  Most of those records he obtained through Open Records Requests. 

While there at the Secretary of State’s office in downtown Atlanta, Swanson said he met with 3 investigators and was there nearly 3 hours during the March 2021 meeting as they took notes and copied his documents.  He said he outlined and documented hundreds of violations of State Election Laws using the documentation provided to the investigators.  Swanson said he felt sure this action would finally bring resolution to the matter!

Hopes began to fade as more and more time slipped by.  “And the silence from the State Investigators was deafening,” said Swanson.   

However, around Thanksgiving of this year, Swanson was apparently notified by the State Election Board of an upcoming meeting on December 13, 2022 at the State Capitol Building.  The letter indicated that the investigators were going to recommend, on both his complaints, to “dismiss without violation”.  The letter also stated he would be given an opportunity to speak to each complaint at the meeting.  It was signed by the lead state investigator for the Secretary of State’s office.

Swanson said, “I was shocked that with everything I provided them, including references to Election Laws, spreadsheets, documents, folders of information and notes helping them to see what I see, they were just going to dismiss (my complaints).”  Swanson said he started feeling like something fishy was going on with these cases – again, knowing what was in those two complaints.    

Swanson then apparently attempted to contact the State Election Board by emailing the entire board.  What those emails apparently show is that for the first time in State Election Board history, they were refusing to allow a complainant an opportunity to speak to his complaints before the State Election Board.  Even though the Lead State Investigator’s letter apparently said he would be provided an opportunity to speak at the meeting.  But, apparently, the State Election Board held firm that Swanson was not going to be allowed to speak before the very Board that hears and adjudicates elections complaints, except for 2 minutes at the end of the meeting – and apparently within those two minutes he was also informed he could not speak to the two complaints he submitted. 

Swanson was then informed by the Secretary of State that his Open Records request for the investigators case files were not going to be provided until after the hearing on December 13, 2022.  “Something rotten was going on…”, Swanson insisted.  

To prove his point about speaking to complaints in front of State Election Board, Swanson alleges that in August of 2021 he participated in the State Election Board meeting regarding the missing 2,700 votes that we were found in Floyd County during a hand re-count of the 2020 General Election.  He further states that he spoke out during that call and has the recording and transcript to prove it.  In that call he apparently citied the By-Laws of the Floyd County Election Board.  He also insisted that the Floyd County Elections Board members be remanded over to the State Attorney General’s office along with the former fired Elections Chief, for possible criminal investigation.  The State Election Board agreed with Swanson, in that case, and remanded the Floyd County Board of Elections and the former Elections Chief to the State Attorney General for possible criminal investigation.  Its unclear where that case stands with the Attorney General’s Office as of this writing.

On the day of the State Election Board Meeting, Swanson said he decided to go down to the Capitol to speak the two minutes allotted him to speak during the public comments period at the end of the meeting.  He had prepared remarks that avoided any details on the two complaints in order to comply with their requirements for the 2-minute time slot.  Further, he showed me the new instructions in the Agenda that we were provided indicated the following rules were to be in place for this December 13, 2022 State Election Board meeting:

VIII. PUBLIC COMMENT

Members of the public may speak before the Board on matters unrelated to the cases listed on the agenda. Sign-up sheets will be available before the beginning of the meeting. Public comment is limited to 2 minutes per speaker. A person cannot read comments written by someone else. A person who cannot attend the meeting may submit written comments to [email protected], and they will be available on the State Election Board website. Written comments are limited to two typed pages.

To complicate matters, Swanson said step brother had been sent home on hospice with Stage 4 Cancer with only days to live the day prior to the planned State Election Board meeting on December 13, 2022. Because his step-brother lived out of town, Swanson said he approached the Chair of the State Election Board before the meeting began and requested that his two minutes be provided at the beginning of the meeting so that he could leave the meeting early and travel 12 hours to see his step brother before he passed.  Swanson alleges he has video from that day to corroborate his story. 

Swanson also alleges he was denied three times by the Chair of the State Election Board to speak his two minutes at the beginning of the meeting citing a no exceptions policy.  Seeing that the agenda for the day was quite long and estimating it likely lasting through lunch time – Swanson said he left the meeting discouraged as the meeting began because he felt it was not worth waiting 4 or 5 hours for the end of the meeting to speak only 2 minutes – and not about his two complaints.

As I listened carefully to his story and asked him questions regarding the details, Swanson provided me with a 53 Page packet of information regarding the evidence corroborating his troubling story.  As I examined the package carefully – it was clear to me that the State Election Board did not want Swanson, or anyone else for that matter, speaking on those two cases.  And it clearly shows the State Election Board went to great lengths to prevent him from doing so. 

Swanson said he left that 53-page packet with the State Election Board Secretary and asked for it to be submitted in the State Election Board minutes as the Chair of the State Board of Elections had suggested he do before leaving the meeting.    

After our first meeting together and looking through the 53-page package Swanson provided, I was left with was a deep curiosity as to what was in those two complaints that State Election Board did not Swanson speaking to?  Especially given they were apparently dismissed without violation.  Why would they simply not let him speak to his two complaints like the State Election Board has apparently always done for years?

I will have to wait until our next meeting to gather further details.  As they become available, we will continue to report on this intriguing story.  In the meantime – I have left a copy of the 53-page packet that Swanson provided with Coosa Valley News for further review. 

Swanson indicates, that in our next meeting, how our top state officials may be turning the other cheek regarding his complaints.  He also promises more documents for me to review! 

Check back often with Coosa Valley News as this story continues to unfold.

Written by: Elizabeth Mae Lottie