The Georgia State Election Board is asking the Justice Department to intervene in the state’s voting systems ahead of the November midterm elections, according to a letter from the board’s executive director, James Mills.

In a letter addressed to Attorney General Todd Blanche, Homeland Security Secretary Markwayne Mullin and Assistant Attorney General for Civil Rights Harmeet Dhillon, Mills asks the DOJ for an “investigation and intervention” of Georgia’s voting systems in connection with ballot secrecy, preservation of election records, and sharing of voter registration and motor vehicle data with outside organizations.

The letter also asks the DOJ to hold Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger “accountable” if he withholds any information or prevents the review. Raffensperger, a Republican, resisted enormous pressure from President Donald Trump to “find” enough votes in Georgia to overturn his 2020 election loss.

In his letter, Mills, who has pushed baseless conspiracy theories about voter fraud in Georgia in the 2020 election, lists several areas he deemed a concern, such as the use of QR codes to tabulate ballots, systems being compromised by ballpoint pens and other alleged technical failures with voting machinery. In addition to the areas of concern, Mills details “specific relief requested” in six areas, including ensuring ballot secrecy, investigating the “alteration of election records” and compelling immediate software updates for voting machines.

The letter comes as early in-person voting is set to begin in Georgia on Oct. 13.

The Secretary of State’s Office told MS NOW it was not notified before the election board sent the letter to the DOJ.

“People who are serious about election security don’t inject chaos in the eleventh hour. In roughly 30 days, Georgia’s 159 election directors will conduct a free, fair, and fast election for all eligible Georgia voters,” a representative for Raffensperger’s office told MS NOW.

“This is yet another in a long line of irresponsible, extralegal actions by the majority on the SEB. It has no legal weight and serves only to confuse voters and undermine confidence in the election,” said Gabe Sterling, former chief operating officer for the secretary’s office.

Asked about the letter, Fulton County Commissioner Dana Barrett, a Democrat who is running for Georgia secretary of state, told MS NOW that the letter’s purpose is “about undermining confidence in the elections process so that they can claim any results they don’t like on November 3rd are fraudulent.”

Barrett pointed to efforts by the state election board and the DOJ to seize Fulton County ballots in the 2020 presidential election.

“This is not about issues with 2020, or with the machines, or with whatever nonsense they come up with next. It’s about controlling the outcome of the 2026 and 2028 elections,” she continued.

Laura Barron-Lopez and Clarissa-Jan Lim contributed to this report.

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