Norwood Campaign for Fulton County Commission Chair Threatened by Potentially Fraudulent Petitioner

ATLANTA – Free and Equal Inc. has been compelled to respond to Monica Rucker’s public attack on the Mary Norwood campaign. Christina Tobin, CEO of Free and Equal Inc., is making sure the truth is known so that any false reports can be rebutted.

Monica Rucker was not hired by Norwood’s campaign or by Free and Equal Inc. At no time did Free and Equal Inc. have a contract or any agreement to pay Monica Rucker for signatures related to the Mary Norwood campaign. Any reports contrary to this are incorrect.

Monica Rucker apparently communicated with a paid petitioner from Free and Equal Inc. to get signatures in coordination with that paid petitioner. Free and Equal Inc. had no knowledge of that situation until after Monica Rucker went public.

Monica Rucker’s petitions were presented to Free and Equal Inc. and inspected as part of our standard procedures to ensure integrity. Monica Rucker’s signatures were found to be fraught with problems and showed a potential pattern of fraud. Those petition sheets were rejected and were not used toward Mary Norwood’s campaign. Free and Equal Inc. does not accept, pay for or use petition signatures like Monica Rucker’s that have such obvious problems. Free and Equal Inc. is submitting her signatures to the appropriate elections authorities for investigation and will fully cooperate with any of their efforts.

Monica Rucker is crying to the media and making threats in an attempt to get paid for petition signatures that did not meet basic standards. That behavior is unacceptable and Free and Equal Inc. will always stand up to rogue individuals like this to ensure the integrity of the election process, Tobin said.

Free and Equal Inc. has established itself as an industry leader for being honest, ethical and transparent. People like Monica Rucker wishing to make money from bogus signatures always creep in to the petitioning industry. Free and Equal Inc. is wholeheartedly dedicated to the integrity of our business and cleaning up this industry from people like Monica Rucker who do not respect the ballot access process, Tobin said.

Free and Equal, Inc., always works as closely as possible with government authorities and other organizations seeking to improve the petitioning process wherever we work. Many states are badly in need of election reforms to help safeguard against situations exactly like this in the future. Free and Equal Inc. is committed to following all proper petitioning procedures. Free and Equal Inc. will continue to work tirelessly for reforms that protect the election process from these types of fraud.

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