Long before Coffee County, Georgia became a central focus of accusations of attempted election tampering in the 2020 presidential election, there have been accusations from locals claiming there have been problems with the election officials who were recently indicted.
According to a new report from CNN, two of the election office employees who were swept up as part of the 19-person RICO indictment filed by Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis, Missy Hampton and Cathy Latham, had been accused of previous transgressions that set off red flags among voters.
As the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reported on Friday, former Donald Trump lawyer Sidney Powell has deep connections to Latham, a Republican Party official who allowed "analysts" access to the voting machines following the 2020 election.
POLL: Should Trump be allowed to run for office.
As CNN is reporting on Saturday, "to some people in Coffee County, deep in southern Georgia and far from interstates, the alleged crimes were merely the latest chapter in a local history of failing to secure the rights and votes of residents. And they worry it’s a history that will repeat."
According to Olivia Coley-Pearson, a Douglas city commissioner, Coffee County election officials have a long history of tangling with Black voters and putting up roadblocks when they attempt to vote.
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As she explained to CNN, "There’s power – a certain amount of power and control when you’re in certain offices. Some people are will do whatever it takes to maintain it. … And if it takes voter intimidation to do it, some people willing to intimidate to maintain that power and control.”
The CNN report adds, "A woman at a bar asked CNN to follow her outside for a smoke. She said she was afraid she wouldn’t be welcome back if she talked, but she did anyway. She said she was for Trump all the way – she voted for him in 2020 and would do it again – but, speaking of the alleged breach, she said, 'That election sh*t wasn’t right. They shouldn’t have done that.'"
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