Tool Built by Election Deniers Said These Voters Were Dead. We Found Them Alive

A voter-screening tool developed by Rick Richards, a member of conservative activist Cleta Mitchell’s Election Integrity Network, was used in Forsyth County, Georgia, to question the eligibility of 69 voters after the 2026 midterms. The system, ELLY’s Election Monitor, compiles public records - including voter files, change-of-address data, tax documents and obituaries - to flag potentially suspicious registrations. Election board member Max Clavijo cited its information to raise concerns about more than 22,000 names on the county’s voter rolls, including four voters he said were dead. All four were alive, and county officials rejected the effort to challenge their ballots.

The case illustrates how activists who continue to dispute election results are using the tool to pursue ballot challenges, despite questions about its reliability. ELLY lacks personal identifiers such as full birth dates and driver’s license or Social Security numbers, making mistaken identity more likely; it had previously misidentified a county board member’s spouse as deceased. Many of Forsyth County’s other challenged voters were flagged because their names began with initials, though several said they used those names routinely and their records matched identification documents. Clavijo said he sought to help clean voter rolls, but acknowledged he could not verify the data. Other board members argued that challengers must provide solid evidence through the proper process before officials act.