The Georgia State Election Board requested FBI assistance with a criminal probe into a hack of its devices in Coffee County.
The board noted similar breaches in other jurisdictions and requested assistance from the FBI as it investigates interactions between Spalding District, Georgia, and SullivanStrickler, according to the Independent.
Imaging
Duffey stated the board received papers that contained an “unexecuted collaboration agreement” for SullivanStrickler to do forensic imaging of voting machines in Spalding County, Georgia.
This action constitutes an escalation by Georgia state authorities. It alsop raises additional questions regarding whether the same group of people responsible for the breach in Coffee County also attempted to gain access to voting devices in other regions of the state.
Duffey stated it is still unknown why Spalding County was keen on having SullivanStrickler perform this type of work, but the board is exploring whether there is a connection to what occurred in Coffee County.
It is also unknown whether Spalding County’s voting systems were compromised.
Duffey stated he requested information from the FBI concerning its involvement in the state-level Georgia investigation of Coffee County, but still doesn’t know what, if anything, the FBI is doing at this time.
Elections board also said it is investigating communications between local election officials in a second Georgia county & SullivanStrickler — same firm hired by attorneys working for Trump to access voting systems in Coffee County in January 2021.
— Zachary Cohen (@ZcohenCNN) September 28, 2022
William Duffey Jr., chairman of the elections board, stated the behavior in Coffee County is comparable to that of Antrim County, Michigan and Clark County, Nevada.
The SullivanStrickler counsel stated no equipment was photographed in Spalding County. They will continue to support federal agents with any investigation, as they have in the past.
The Associated Press reported officials plan to update voting technology in the county, following “unauthorized access” to it just two months after the 2020 election.
On January 7, 2021, a computer forensics team hired by associates of former President Trump arrived in Coffee County, some 200 miles southeast of Atlanta.
A company representative stated full copies of the election control server computer and other election equipment components were generated.
Two guys involved in attempts to invalidate the 2020 election results spent several hours inside the elections department connecting to the equipment later that month.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger (R) stated an inquiry into former election officials’ unlawful access to Coffee County records is ongoing.
Georgia SoS Brad Raffensperger announces he is replacing election equipment in Coffee county amid ongoing probes into unauthorized access after 2020 pic.twitter.com/LmFJqdTX6X
— Sam Levine (@srl) September 23, 2022
He stated in a press release that those who violate the law must be punished severely. Current Coffee County election authorities must proceed with the 2022 contest and they need to be able to accomplish this without this interruption.
No Worries
As the midterm elections in November approach, the FBI said earlier this month they “discovered no credible threats” to U.S. electoral infrastructure.
The Statesman revealed a month prior to the anticipated midterm election, authorities were actively watching possible threats to election workers.
This came after local government officials disclosed a ripple of abuse and harassment before and after the divisive 2020 presidential election.
The Federal Elections Threat Task Force evaluated over one thousand reports since June 2021. Approximately 11% of those matched the criteria for a federal inquiry, resulting in four arrests to date.
The majority of potential criminal threats included election officials in seven states — Arizona, Colorado, Georgia, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Nevada, and Wisconsin – where the vote was close, and there was post-election contestation.
This article appeared in The Political Globe and has been published here with permission.
