Fulton County recounts runoff ballots after poll worker allegedly scans multiple votes

Fulton poll worker faces scrutiny over ballots

Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts says there is no such thing as a perfect election. His comment comes as Georgia's largest county deals with an election impropriety.

FULTON COUNTY, Ga. - Fulton County Chairman Robb Pitts says there is no such thing as a perfect election. His comment comes as Georgia's largest county deals with an election impropriety.

What we know:

A Fulton County elections worker is under criminal investigation after election officials say the woman scanned multiple ballots during the December 2 runoff election.

Election officials say that because of the incident, they are recounting all ballots cast in last Tuesday’s runoff.

Fulton County officials say the alleged irregularity happened at Dobbs Elementary School during last week's runoff election. 

What they're saying:

The director of Fulton County Registration and Elections detailed the allegation during a called Board of Elections meeting this morning. County officials then held a news conference about the incident on Monday afternoon.

"A poll manager noticed a poll worker scanned two ballots and reported it to the elections department. The director asked for the police to escort that poll worker out of the polling location. After further investigation, we learned the poll worker had scanned her own ballot and voted for herself, but also for other family members that we later learned on Saturday were not present at the precinct location," Fulton County Board of Elections Chair Sherri Allen explained. The employee was a veteran elections worker and had worked previous Fulton County elections.

"Elections in Fulton County, Georgia, are safe and secure. The good news here is that our elections processes that we have in place worked. This situation was caught and it was immediately addressed," Chairman Robb Pitts told FOX 5’s Aungelique Proctor.

What we don't know:

The poll worker has not been publicly identified. She has not been charged, but county officials say she is under investigation by the Georgia Secretary of State's Office and Fulton County Police.

What's next:

The election was supposed to be certified by 5 p.m. Monday, but employees are still recounting ballots. The recount is expected to wrap up around 6:30 p.m., and the election should be certified at that time.