COFFEE COUNTY, Ga. — The state has issued at least one subpoena so far in its investigation of an alleged computer breach in the state’s voting system. The incident under investigation is in Coffee County in southeast Georgia. But the subpoena issued is raising some questions about whether the state is investigating the breach -- or one of its critics.
"I received a subpoena on Monday night," said Marilyn Marks, founder of the Coalition for Good Governance. She's an activist whose organization took the state to court long before the 2020 election, challenging the security of what was then Georgia’s new Dominion voting system.
Before the state bought the Dominion system, tech experts had warned state officials that any computer-based voting system would be vulnerable to hacking.
Fast forward to 2021 – when then President Trump falsely claimed he won Georgia – and, the Washington Post reported, Trump activists breached the Dominion system in rural Coffee County Georgia.
"No doubt, it’s an absolutely serious breach. And, the state should have investigated this a long time ago," Marks said.
Georgia Tech School of Cybersecurity Chair Rich DeMillo previously said that hacking one election management system could manipulate vote totals in upcoming elections – like the statewide election this year, and the presidential election in 2024.
Just days ago, the state announced that the GBI would investigate the alleged Coffee County breach – but Marks and her attorney said the state appears to be targeting her instead.
"They’ve not been taking it seriously. So now they’re engaged in a type of shoot the messenger campaign rather than substantively looking at what happened in Coffee County, and going after the people who were behind it," Marks said.
The Secretary of State’s Office said the investigation isn’t targeting Marks - though investigators do want to know what she knows so that they can investigate the Coffee County situation effectively.