ATLANTA — A conservative group claiming that had evidence of ballot harvesting in Georgia’s 2020 election told a judge they didn’t have any.
Channel 2 Action News first reported on this story in April 2022 when Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s Office opened an investigation after the group “True the Vote,” made the allegations, but refused to reveal who their source was.
“They said that they had some credible information, and we looked at it, and we said it was, and so then we asked, ‘Who are these people?’ and they said, ‘We know who they are. They talked to us, but we can’t tell you who they are,’” Raffensperger told Channel 2 investigative reporter Mark Winne at the time.
A Fulton County Superior Court judge in Atlanta signed an order last year requiring True the Vote to provide evidence it had collected, including the names of people who were sources of information, to state elections officials who were frustrated by the group’s refusal to share evidence with investigators.
In their written response, attorneys for True the Vote said the group had no names or other documentary evidence to share.
“Once again, True the Vote has proven itself untrustworthy and unable to provide a shred of evidence for a single one of their fairy-tale allegations,” Raffensperger spokesman Mike Hassinger said Wednesday. “Like all the lies about Georgia’s 2020 election, their fabricated claims of ballot harvesting have been repeatedly debunked.”
True the Vote’s assertions were relied upon heavily for “2000 Mules,” a widely debunked film by conservative pundit and filmmaker Dinesh D’Souza. A State Election Board investigation found that surveillance camera footage that the film claimed showed ballot stuffing actually showed people submitting ballots for themselves and family members who lived with them, which is allowed under Georgia law.
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The election board subpoenaed True the Vote to provide evidence that would assist it in investigating the group’s ballot trafficking allegations.
True the Vote’s complaint said its investigators “spoke with several individuals regarding personal knowledge, methods, and organizations involved in ballot trafficking in Georgia.” It said one person, referred to in the complaint only as John Doe, “admitted to personally participating and provided specific information about the ballot trafficking process.”
Frustrated by the group’s refusal to share evidence, Georgia officials took it to court last year. A judge ordered True the Vote to turn over names and contact information for anyone who had provided information, as well as any recordings, transcripts, witness statements or other documents supporting its allegations.
The group came up empty-handed despite having “made every additional reasonable effort to locate responsive items,” its attorneys David Oles and Michael Wynne wrote in a Dec. 11 legal filing.
State elections officials opened their own investigation after receiving True the Vote’s complaint two months later. When pressed to provide names of sources and other documentation, the group last year tried to withdraw its complaint. One of its attorneys wrote that a complete response would require True the Vote to identify people to whom it had promised confidentiality.
The State Election Board refused to shelve the complaint and went to court to force True the Vote to turn over information.
In addition to names, the judge ordered True the Vote to provide copies of any confidentiality agreements it had with sources.
The group’s attorneys replied: “TTV has no such documents in its possession, custody, or control.”
The Associated Press contributed to this article.
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