Georgia AG tells State Election Board he cannot be directed to investigate 2020 election

Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr (R) told the State Election Board (SEB) on Monday that it cannot direct him to investigate the 2020 presidential election.

In an official opinion from the attorney general's office, Carr noted that while he has not "received a written request" from the board, he is "aware of requests directed to this Office by action of the State Election Board." The opinion noted that "the SEB directed the Attorney General to investigate certain matters related to the conduct of the 2020 election in a Georgia county and to conduct such investigation with outside investigators."

"The authority to investigate potential violations of the election laws rests with the SEB and not with the Attorney General," Carr wrote. "This Office is not required to conduct an investigation on its own or with outside personnel at the direction of a client agency."

"[T]he Attorney General serves as the sole legal counsel to the Executive Branch of state government, does not have a legal conflict in doing so and further is not required to engage other counsel at the direction of a client," he later added. "The State Election Board is not empowered to direct the Attorney General to conduct an investigation under Title 21 whether on his own or through outside investigators. The Election Code does not empower the Attorney General to act on his own as an investigator beyond the limited context of a referral of a case to the Attorney General for potential criminal prosecution as referenced in O.C.G.A. § 21-2-31(5)."

Earlier this month, the SEB voted to request that Carr reopen an investigation into Fulton County's counting of the results of the 2020 election.

The request comes after the board closed the matter in May, but voted to install an independent election monitor for the 2024 election, after an independent investigation found that the county likely scanned thousands of ballots twice in a recount of the 2020 election.

The election board approved the investigation resolution in a 3-2 vote. The resolution states that if Carr does not conduct an investigation, the board will try to find an outside lawyer to conduct the inquiry.