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Conservatives incline to believe voter fraud stories. Liberals lean toward voter suppression. How often do we really dig into the details of a case and follow the facts where they lead? That’s what we did in a big case in Georgia. news.yahoo.com/how-a-criminal…
Soon after @BrianKempGA became GA’s Sec of State a dozen African-Americans were arrested & charged w 120 felony voter fraud counts. The case dragged on for 6 yrs, even after a jury found no evidence of wrong-doing. This is the story of the Quitman 10+2 news.yahoo.com/how-a-criminal…
We did over two dozen interviews, reviewed over 1000 pages of documents, & produced 6500 words, a 10-minute video & a podcast to let you decide what happened. It began as voter fraud but became what looked very much like voter intimidation. news.yahoo.com/how-a-criminal…
There’s also a podcast episode you can listen to, where I talked to @ArielWriter, the outstanding @AJC investigative reporter who did outstanding work on this story. That episode is linked to in the story but the audio page is here too: aca.st/809fc5
Fox News’ @ericshawnTV touted the Quitman case as a voter fraud story, with lots of exasperation over how "we see this ... time and time again. It almost seems it doesn’t go away.” You can watch that video here: video.foxnews.com/v/129801786300…
Kemp’s office conducted over 400 interviews, mostly in Quitman's black community. People there said it matched what @staceyabrams said last year: “Voter suppression isn’t only about blocking the vote, it’s also about creating an atmosphere of fear.” news.yahoo.com/how-a-criminal…
And Quitman is a place well acquainted with fear. It is part of Brooks County, which is named after an arch-segregationist congressman & which saw the third-highest number of lynchings in the state during the Jim Crow era, according to @eji_org’s report eji.org/reports/lynchi…
The day before the election, a local gun store owner reported "black customers coming into the store all day long buying ammunition”, and said rumor was that "if the election did not go ‘their’ way on Tuesday that Quitman would burn to the ground.” news.yahoo.com/how-a-criminal… 
In 2016, Georgia's Attorney General issued guidance making clear that the majority of the charges in the Quitman case had been based on an erroneous interpretation of the law. Only then did Kemp finally dismiss the case at the state election board level news.yahoo.com/how-a-criminal…
The leader of the Quitman 10+2, Nancy Dennard, is a lifelong educator. She faced 11 felonies & was then offered a plea deal if she would admit wrongdoing. She refused to do so. All her charges were dismissed. She is now mayor of Quitman. (Video at link) news.yahoo.com/how-a-criminal…
Dennard and others lived under the threat of decades in jail for years. Lula Smart considered suicide for a time. They said they felt @BrianKempGA owed them an apology. Kemp declined to respond to any questions submitted by Yahoo News. news.yahoo.com/how-a-criminal…
@BrianKempGA Proud to work with the indefatigable @SamAMatthews on this project & the awesome crew we had on location, and with the whole team at @YahooNews, especially @weinbergersa. Thanks @KelliGrant_news for the always stellar work! news.yahoo.com/how-a-criminal…
@BrianKempGA @SamAMatthews @YahooNews @weinbergersa @KelliGrant_news While I did reporting on this Quitman story, I visited the memorial to Mary Turner. Her lynching in 1918 is a glimpse into the abyss of evil that humans are capable of. And there are 13 bullet holes in a plaque erected just 9 years ago.
@BrianKempGA @SamAMatthews @YahooNews @weinbergersa @KelliGrant_news Incidentally, for any of you out there wondering whether to write that book, do it. The ancillary benefits are many. In my research for @camelotsend I learned so much about Georgia's long history of institutionalized race-based discrimination, such as the county unit system
@BrianKempGA @SamAMatthews @YahooNews @weinbergersa @KelliGrant_news @CamelotsEnd Re-upping from this morning. Out today, our investigation into accusations of voter fraud in @BrianKempGA’s Georgia , which in the end led to accusations of voter intimidation
@BrianKempGA @SamAMatthews @YahooNews @weinbergersa @KelliGrant_news @CamelotsEnd Conservatives incline to believe voter fraud stories. Liberals lean toward voter suppression. How often do we really dig into the details of a case and follow the facts where they lead? That’s what we did in a big case in Georgia. news.yahoo.com/how-a-criminal…
