--- title: "Georgia Election Board Members Coordinated With Cleta Mitchell's Network" publication: "MediaBias News" url: "https://mediabias.news/politics/georgia-election-board-members-coordinated-with-cleta-mitchells-network" api: "https://mediabias.news/api/v1/stories/georgia-election-board-members-coordinated-with-cleta-mitchells-network" markdown: "https://mediabias.news/politics/georgia-election-board-members-coordinated-with-cleta-mitchells-network.md" audio: "https://mediabias.news/api/audio/georgia-election-board-members-coordinated-with-cleta-mitchells-network" category: "Politics" area: "United States" published: "2026-11-14T03:46:36.653Z" source_reported: "2026-11-13T15:47:30.000Z" updated: "2026-11-14T03:46:36.653Z" trust_score: 70 critic_score: 70 hype_score: 45 assessment_type: "coverage-and-source-reporting-analysis" fact_check_status: "not-performed" coverage_measured: "2026-11-14T03:45:50.451873+00:00" --- # Georgia Election Board Members Coordinated With Cleta Mitchell's Network *ProPublica investigation reveals links between state election officials and conservative activist group* **Scores for the source reporting** (0-100, assessing the original journalism this article was written from, not this write-up): - Trust 70 of 100, higher is better. Central claims attributed to ProPublica, with named sources and documents cited. - Craft 70 of 100, higher is better. Quotes from affected parties and experts are included, and facts are separated from comment. - Hype 45 of 100, lower is better. The headline is direct and reflects the article's content without undue sensationalism. Scored by MediaBias News; method at https://mediabias.news/methodology. **The short version** - Georgia's State Election Board members and staff coordinated with the Election Integrity Network (EIN), an activist group led by Cleta Mitchell. - This coordination involved promoting a software tool called ELLY to search voter rolls for suspicious voters. - Current and former board members, including Janelle King and Janice Johnston, attended meetings with EIN or affiliated groups. - James Mills, the board's executive director, also worked closely with EIN members, according to sources and documents. Members of Georgia's State Election Board and much of its professional staff coordinated with the Election Integrity Network (EIN) and allied organizations in the period before the midterms. Cleta Mitchell, an attorney who worked with Donald Trump, leads the EIN. The coordination focused on advancing the use of a software tool named ELLY, which searches voter rolls. Current and former board members, including Janelle King and Janice Johnston, attended meetings of EIN or affiliated groups. James Mills, the board's executive director, also worked closely with EIN members, according to sources and documents. ## Disagreements on Influence and Awareness The extent of EIN's influence and awareness of it among board leadership is disputed. Max Flugrath, a director at Fair Fight Action, stated that EIN had "extraordinary influence" and was the "behind-the-scenes driver" pushing changes. He claimed Trump allies captured the board to promote claims of a stolen 2020 election and favour Republicans. John Fervier, the board's chair, told ProPublica he had not known about EIN's sway but sensed an outside force shaping the board's actions, stating, "The Election Integrity Network has been having an undue influence on the State Election Board, and that needs to cease." Garland Favorito, an EIN leader and head of VoterGA, called the idea of secret coordination a "patently false conspiracy theory." ## Omissions in coverage None of the left-rated or centre-rated reports printed below mention the specific details of the affidavit authorizing the raid on Fulton County election records, which cited Johnston and King as witnesses and a report by an EIN researcher. Similarly, none of the reports mention the specific details of EIN pushing a rule change through the State Election Board in 2024 that allowed local officials to potentially delay certifying vote counts, which a court later struck down. ## Who covered it Shares of the 6 covering outlets with a published leaning rating: - Left: 83% (5) - Centre: 17% (1) - Right: 0% (0) 0 of 6 covering outlets carried no usable leaning rating and were excluded from those percentages. Coverage measured 2026-11-14T03:45:50.451873+00:00. **Coverage watch:** developing. Checked 4 times; 0 checks found a material change. Most recently checked 2026-11-14T04:45:13.919Z. ## How the sides framed it ### Left - Left-rated reports led with the coordination between Georgia's State Election Board members and staff and the Election Integrity Network (EIN), an activist group led by conservative attorney Cleta Mitchell. Truthout, Georgia Public Broadcasting, ProPublica, electionlawblog.org, and Raw Story all highlighted this connection. These reports detailed how the coordination involved advancing the use of a controversial software tool called ELLY to search voter rolls. They noted that current and former board members, including Janelle King and Janice Johnston, attended meetings with EIN or affiliated groups. The reports also stated that James Mills, the board's executive director, worked closely with EIN members. Truthout quoted Max Flugrath of Fair Fight Action, who said EIN had "extraordinary influence" and was the "behind-the-scenes driver" of changes, and board chair John Fervier, who stated the EIN's influence "needs to cease." ### Centre - The centre-rated report from Political Wire focused on the core finding of coordination between Georgia's Election Board and Cleta Mitchell's network. It cited ProPublica's report stating that board members and staff were coordinating with the activist group led by Mitchell, who is described as the conservative attorney who worked with Donald Trump to try to overturn his 2020 election defeat. The digest noted that this coordination occurred in the run-up to the midterms and involved the use of the ELLY software tool for searching voter rolls. ### Right No separate framing summary. **Provisional coverage gap:** right. The watch is not closed, so this is not yet a settled blindspot finding. ## Factuality profile of the covering outlets These are published factuality ratings of the outlets, not a verdict on whether this story or its claims are true. - high: 4 - veryHigh: 2 ## Verification scope This page compares coverage and scores the source reporting. It is not a ClaimReview verdict on whether the underlying event or claim is true. ## Original reporting this was written from - [Truthout](https://truthout.org/articles/ga-election-board-members-coordinated-with-right-wing-network-before-midterms) — GA Election Board Members Coordinated With Right-Wing Network Before Midterms - [electionlawblog.org](https://electionlawblog.org/2026/members-of-georgias-election-board-have-been-coordinating-with-cleta-mitchells-network) — "Members of Georgia’s Election Board Have Been Coordinating With Cleta Mitchell’s Network" #ELB - [Raw Story](https://rawstory.com/cleta-mitchell-2678391302) — 'That needs to cease': GOP chair declares war on election deniers steering Georgia board - [Political Wire](https://politicalwire.com/2026/11/13/georgia-election-board-coordinated-with-cleta-mitchell) — Georgia Election Board Coordinated with Cleta Mitchell - [Georgia Public Broadcasting](https://gpb.org/news/2026/11/13/members-of-georgias-election-board-have-been-coordinating-cleta-mitchells-network) — Members of Georgia’s election board have been coordinating with Cleta Mitchell’s network - [ProPublica](https://propublica.org/article/georgia-election-board-cleta-mitchell-midterms) — Members of Georgia’s Election Board Have Been Coordinating With Cleta Mitchell’s Network ## Questions **What is the Election Integrity Network?** The Election Integrity Network (EIN) is an activist group led by Cleta Mitchell, an attorney who worked with Donald Trump. The group has been involved in efforts to influence election processes in Georgia, including promoting the use of a software tool called ELLY to search voter rolls. **What is the ELLY software tool?** ELLY is a controversial software tool used to search voter rolls. It aggregates public data from various sources, but voting rights groups have stated it often erroneously flags legitimate voters, leading to potential inaccuracies in voter purges. **Who are the key figures involved?** Key figures include Cleta Mitchell, leader of the EIN; James Mills, executive director of the Georgia State Election Board; and current and former board members Janelle King and Janice Johnston, who have attended EIN meetings. --- MediaBias News — https://mediabias.news. Reproduced from https://mediabias.news/politics/georgia-election-board-members-coordinated-with-cleta-mitchells-network. Please cite as: MediaBias News, "Georgia Election Board Members Coordinated With Cleta Mitchell's Network", https://mediabias.news/politics/georgia-election-board-members-coordinated-with-cleta-mitchells-network