Georgia taxpayers foot the bill for chasing down debunked election conspiracies

In Georgia, a familiar cast of election deniers and groups, including the Texas-based for-profit Election Oversight Group LLC led by Kevin Moncla, have discovered that if you never admit you’re wrong, the argument never has to end.

Since 2020, the state of Georgia has given these deniers the benefit of the doubt and investigated each claim and proven them wrong.

But, instead of acknowledging the state’s findings, these groups just move the goalposts and try again.

Discrediting ‘theories’ is not hard to do

Credit: Handout

Credit: Handout

Their strategy relies on the complexity of the system itself. Georgia’s elections generate a massive amount of data, including voter registrations, precinct assignments, participation history and absentee requests — essentially every detail other than the candidate a person voted for.

Nearly all this data is publicly available or can be viewed via an Open Records Act request.

Legitimate consultants and campaigns use this data for outreach; it is the engine behind those pesky flyers that pile up in your mailbox before Election Day.

I speak from experience, analyzing Georgia election data professionally since 2019, in addition to serving as an expert witness for court cases involving election data.

In the course of my work, I’ve debunked “theories” from these groups.

Honestly, it’s not that hard to do.

The secretary of state’s office had a similar experience debunking the allegations of Philip Davis, a self-described “conservative data expert” who, in a recent AJC article, cited “intentional efforts” to double-count votes during a recount of the 2020 election results.

While the secretary of state officials noted “improper procedures” by the Fulton County elections office, Davis’ claims of intentional malfeasance were comprehensively debunked at the May 7, 2024, State Election Board meeting.

An independent consultant hired by the secretary of state reported that “at no time was dishonesty, fraud … observed,” also noting Davis “erroneously conflat(ing) the number of total votes cast, and the number of total votes counted (for president).”

Evidence does not sustain the claims

The allegations of Mr. Moncla and Mr. Davis have a common thread: They find a data point, strip it of context and weave it into their fantastical theories of fraud.

That’s not science. That’s chasing down conspiracy theories while Georgia’s taxpayers foot the bill to investigate their accusations.

Extraordinary claims require extraordinary evidence.

Time and again, election deniers’ allegations fail to meet that standard.

The FBI’s raid on Fulton County isn’t a search for the truth — it is a lifeline for debunked conspiracies, kept on life support for the cynical purpose of sowing doubt in future elections.

Michael Handelman is an election data consultant and the founder of Civic Forge Solutions LLC.