Judge Melynee Leftridge
ATLANTA, GA. JUNE 16, 2026 – Fulton County Superior Court Judge Melynee Leftridge issued an order Friday allowing Secretary of State (SOS) Brad Raffensperger to continue compiling election results from a secret bunker on Election Night. The order, effective for tonight’s runoff, was issued in response to a mandamus claim brought by candidates Greg Dolezal, Keli Gambrill and Chris Mora to force the SOS to comply with Georgia law.
Georgia law states:
“Superintendents, poll officers, and other officials engaged in the conducting of primaries and elections held under this chapter shall perform their duties in public.” O.C.G.A. § 21-2-406
However, Judge Leftridge noted in her order:
“And the term ‘other officials engaged in the conducting of primaries and elections’ does not expand those definitions nor does it apply to the Secretary of State”:
Judge Leftridge went on to claim:
“…the unrebutted credible testimony presented regarding the issue from the Elections Director indicates that central aggregation is not a duty the Secretary of State performs under the Georgia Election Code.”
However, even if he said that, Georgia State Election Director Blake Evans is not an attorney and is not allowed to make a legal conclusion.
Furthermore, Georgia law clearly defines the verification, aggregation, and publishing activities performed in the bunker on Election Night as a duty of the SOS, which includes:
(6) To receive from the superintendent the returns of primaries and elections and to canvass and compute the votes cast for candidates and upon questions, as required by this chapter; …” O.C.G.A. § 21-2-50(6)
Leftridge is now the second Fulton County judge in two months who allowed Raffensperger to operate above the law during Georgia elections. On May 4, 2026, Judge Belinda Edwards issued an order allowing Raffensperger to reject a challenge to his candidacy without routing it to an Administrative Court hearing as required by Georgia law. O.C.G.A. §21-2-5(b).
The Georgia Emergency Management Agency operates the bunker in metro Atlanta for state emergency purposes. No Georgia counties aggregate precinct election results in secret. Attorney David Oles, who represents the candidates, stated he will appeal the decision to pursue transparency for all voters in the November General Election.
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— Garland Favorito (@VoterGa) June 16, 2026