In my research over the past couple of weeks, I have found some very interesting things that have taken place under the radar of the citizens of Marion County AND the commissioners.

What, do you ask, happened?

Tiffany Harris and Connie Harris conspired to put Tiffany over the elections office in Marion County and they did so without the commissioners understanding what was going on and in most cases, without their approval.

Timeline of “The Heist”

On October 10, 2023, the Board of Commissioners approved the creation of the Board of Elections and Registration and the creation of 2 board member positions. They appointed Nikki Franklin as a board member that day.

On October 11, 2023, Nikki Franklin took her position as a board member and began working hard for the citizens of Marion County, Georgia.

On November 2, 2023, Tiffany Harris was “appointed” as a board member according to the Board of Election meeting minutes. On that same day, Amanda Bloodworth was the clerk that attested to Tiffany’s appointment, but LO AND BEHOLD, Connie Harris is the one who signed and sealed the document as notary public, which means Connie was in the room while this was all transpiring.

On November 16, 2023, according to the minutes from the Board of Elections meeting, it was stated that the Board of Elections welcomes Tiffany Harris, where Tiffany is one of two Board Members, and I argue that she is not a legally sitting board member, but I digress. There are no board of commissioners’ minutes for October 2023 through December 2023 that appoint Tiffany Harris as a board member.

On December 21, 2023, Tiffany Harris signed her oath of office for the “Marion County Commossioner’s [sic] Board,” which was administered and signed by Probate Judge Heather Stuart, where Tiffany signs as an “employee” of the Board of Commissioners. That means she works for the County citizens through their elected commissioners, whereby Connie is their manager. So I would also argue that Connie is in fact Tiffany’s manager.

But wait … Tiffany said that Connie Harris is not related to her, and says that her wife’s father is married to Connie (that makes Connie her mother-in-law by marriage) who is the County Manager. She said that Connie had nothing to do with her getting her job, didn’t hire her, can’t fire her, that she wasn’t hired by the commissioners, isn’t paid by the commissioners, and that Connie isn’t her manager. I will show you that in fact much of what Tiffany has said is severely untrue and is evidenced in black and white below.

On that same day, as she took the oath for the Board of Commissioners, Tiffany also took her Oath of Office for the Board of Elections, in which Probate Judge, Heather Stuart administers and signs. They both sign swearing that what they have signed is true and accurate. Whether Heather knew that this wasn’t all done according to the law, we don’t know, so for now, I will chalk it up to what I am seeing in many, as ignorance of the law. But let us be fully assured, that ignorance of the law is not a legal defense for violation of the law, pursuant to O.C.G.A. § 1-3-6.

But why does Tiffany take an oath of office for the Board of Commissioners, if according to her, she works for and gets paid be her own elections board? Doesn’t this indicate that an elections board member is still under the authority of the Board of Commissioners, and thereby she is accountable to the citizens of Marion County as well? Doesn’t this mean that the citizens pay her paycheck through the county funds? Doesn’t this mean if her paycheck comes from the county that the County Manager (or her clerk) is who writes the check? So, does Connie, in fact have EVERYTHING to do with how Tiffany was hired, how she is paid, who orchestrated her shoe-in under the watchful eyes of the commissioners and their constituents – the taxpayers of Marion County, Georgia?

On January 11, 2024, BOTH the Elections Supervisor/Chief Deputy Registrar, Sandra Brown, AND the Assistant Deputy Registrar, Andrea McRae, resign.

Sandra indicated to Richard Harris, of Harris Publications, and founder, author, and publisher of The Journal, that she was only getting paid $10.90 an hour ($22,672 yearly) as a Deputy Registrar and $9,588 yearly as an election supervisor. She indicated that she had asked for a pay raise which was negotiated at $12.00 an hour for the Deputy Registrar position and $15,022.32 for the Election Supervisor. Sandra asked them to bring her Supervisor pay to $32,672 annually and they declined. Sandra also indicated, and it is evidenced that Andrea McCrae did not feel comfortable staying in a position where she “will have no proper guidance on the upcoming Election Season.”

I would also like to add here that we have two people doing two jobs, which two of those jobs could be given to other citizens in the county. And to add insult to injury, why was and is the election supervisor getting paid for two positions in which they are deputy to themselves? O.C.G.A. § 45-2-2 indicates that a public officer cannot hold more than one county office at a time and cannot be commissioned as a deputy and as another commissioned officer. Tiffany is BOTH the elections supervisor AND the Chief Deputy Registrar. What’s even more of a conflict, as if this process isn’t riddled with conflict already, is that as the Chief Deputy Registrar, which seems to be a position that was created in that Executive session that Matt Gunnels called, Tiffany reports to herself as the Elections Supervisor.

But as for Sandra’s and Andrea’s resignation, the only thing that changed, that would cause Andrea this insecurity, is Tiffany Harris being added to the mix. I can tell you that with my experience attempting to get any questions answered, that Tiffany is not a great educator. She’s sloppy, has no mind for herself, refuses to answer difficult questions, points you to the Secretary of State’s website, runs you all over the place, because she’s running all over the place, etc. She’s very chaotic. There is no order. Her documentation may not even exist, unless she made it to answer the Open Records Requests I asked for. And I say this, because when she sends me those documents, she said this satisfies your requests, and then when I point out that she’s missing something, I get it way later and it definitely brings probable cause to being a falsified document.

It is important to note that Richard Harris did not publish this change in The Journal for the citizens to read, and I haven’t asked why. This is something we should have and would like to have known, and I would have thought this would have given him content for his newspaper. I don’t know if he intended to keep this hush hush, but this whole process seems to be masqueraded by those involved for a reason.

On January 29, 2024, the Elections Board meeting minutes indicate that Sandra is leaving because of the impasse with the County Commisioners due to pay and states that Andrea is leaving because she did not feel she had the KNOWLEDGE to stay. That’s not what Andrea said. She said she didn’t feel like she would have the PROPER GUIDANCE. They indicated that they will advertise Ms. Brown’s position, but as referenced above and below, no formal notice was EVER made.

You will notice that Connie Harris attended the Board of Elections meeting. Was she a member of the Board of Elections? In the meeting minutes, it is noted that Connie placed an ad in The Journal, but I have searched from January 31, 2024, after Sandra and Andrea retired to March 27, 2024, after Tiffany’s “appointment/hire” as the Election Supervisor and Chief Deputy Registrar. And wouldn’t ya know, there’s nothing there. It indicated that there was only one application for the position, and even though it is stated that they didn’t have strong accounting-related skills, they were still interviewed. My question is why does someone in the elections office have to have strong accounting skills if they don’t handle money? I have been told repeatedly by Tiffany Harris that all campaign fees are paid to the county and the county has the receipts. And why, did they still decide to waste that candidate’s time?

Additionally, it is noted that Connie went over the salary agreed upon by the commissioners that was indicated to Sandra before her resignation and that she would get back with the Elections Board about the starting pay for the elections supervisor. But, didn’t she already have that from the commissioners as well? It was cited as $14,588 according to Sandra in her email to Richard Harris. So why did Connie have to get back with them? Was she going to get them to approve a different and higher amount for her daughter-in-law?

Connie then stated that she would continue advertising for the position, but as stated above, there were no advertisements in The Journal. You can see my notes on the second page of Sandra’s email to Richard, above, where I downloaded all the newspapers and looked through them for verification.

Then, it stated that Tiffany proposed that she serve interim as the Election Supervisor and the Deputy Registrar positions, whereby it is indicated that Nikki, a board member, and a chairperson, Jenefer Creamer (not a board member) were in full agreement. And there was, at this point, still no commissioner appointment. This appears to be Tiffany and Connie doing all the work behind the commissioners’ and the citizens backs. Where was this pay raise for Sandra for both positions ever put before the commissioners in the presence of the citizens? isn’t it our money they are using to pay our employees and officials?

These documents below show that the elections board and employees are paid from county funds. I took these documents from the 2026 budget, where funds in the county are budgeted for pay. Therefore, I dare say that our taxpayer money is paying every person in the election office, which is not what Tiffany has said.

On February 4, 2024, Tiffany took it upon herself to engage Probate Judge Heather Stuart in the administration of the loyalty oath for the Board of Elections and Registration Office and her oath of office as a Registrar. There is no oath of office as an Election Supervisor and there is no loyalty oath for her as a Deputy Chief Registrar. Both oaths are required for each position, and all oaths must be completed before an individual can take that position, which is a violation of Georgia law.

And just in case someone wants to tamper with evidence and create those oaths, I had the privilege of viewing the record books in the Probate Court myself with the assistance of Heather Stuart, where I took a picture of all the logs of documents in each alphabetized tabbed section, and I have the bates stamps of all surrounding documents to make sure the bates stamps aren’t altered. The only book that had any documents that belonged to Tiffany Harris were lumped into an area of that second book that Heather Stuart called out when she pulled it out for me, with other oaths of office I have been asking for through Open Records Request as of recently. I have seen that some of them lack the correct information, but that’s for another story.

And what’s even more interesting is that I noticed that in the tabbed “H” records in that second book, there were no documents at all, but there was a log that said Tiffany Harris – Oath. Not different lines for different oaths, because at this point, Tiffany had 4 oaths and one appointment affidavit. And if some of those were taken in 2023, why were there none of those oaths in the first book under “H” that had all the previous years oaths for other public officials?

Also, when I asked the Probate Court Clerk, Julie Taylor, where the documents were and why this log said “5-8,” she said that she had someone else put these documents in this record book the other day and that that person must have just put the date instead of the page number. How could they have been accurately given, signed, and logged in 2023 and 2024, but were just put here the other day? And how would this have been May 8, 2026, if the date as indicated on the image is April 20, 2026 and May had not come yet? This is the same writing as the other logs that I have seen and caught as evidence, so was Julie lying? When looking at the bates stamps on all of Tiffany’s oaths, they ranged from page 5 – 8 of the oath dump mentioned above, so that would be the appropriate indicator for that log, but why didn’t she just tell me that right off the jump?

This further indicates to me that there was some attempt to cover up what I was digging around to uncover, and now Julie Taylor has been brought into it. If Julie Taylor is the Probate Court Clerk, and all the logs in the file have the same writing, why would Julie say she had someone else do this the other day for her and not know that this was the bates stamp marker range for those oaths? Was she acting dumb, did she not remember that she did this? Or, was she now caught and had to figure out an answer that would appease me.

On March 21, 2024, the meeting minutes for the Board of Elections indicated that Tiffany had accepted the position of Election Supervisor and Deputy Registrar, but there is no indication of that appointment or offer being made by the commissioners until May 14, 2024. It also reflects that Tiffany had to resign as a member of the Board of Elections immediately. Howbeit though, that Tiffany signed these very minutes on May 9, 2024, as a board member. And what I find interesting is that it states that Tiffany is to be paid by the board – it is very ambiguous here because the Board of Commissioners were supposed to be responsible to pay Tiffany. So, do they mean The Board of Commissioners are responsible to pay her or is it the Board of Elections responsible to pay her? I personally believe this may be intentionally ambiguous because Tiffany stated that she is paid by the Board of Elections and that her mother-in-law has nothing to do with hiring her or paying her.

On May 14, 2024, an executive session was called by Matt Gunnels to discuss personnel matters and immediately after they returned, they appointed Tiffany as Election Supervisor and CHIEF Registrar. Okay, so I have a few things I want to point out here. The commissioners had just appointed Jay Wells and Cody Lane as members to the Health Board and the Recreation Board, respectively. This was all done publicly, so why didn’t they wait until they appointed Tiffany, to call the executive session to discuss “personnel?” And why did they appoint her Chief Registrar, not Deputy Registrar as had been discussed? So did they create this position for Tiffany so she would get paid more? Why didn’t they offer this same favoritism to keep Sandra but were oh so willing to give it to Tiffany? Did Connie have something to do with that?

I would like to indicate that this document was originally sent to me as a production of my open records request for the commissioners’ meeting minutes on March 11, 2026, by Heather Wright, in which there was not a second page attached. Then, I was sent this document with the second page attached to an additional open records request that produced documents from the Election office to Heather Wright, showing that Tiffany Harris was hired and for any application or resume that was submitted on April 15, 2026. It wasn’t signed by any County Manager or Commissioner. So, was this the actual page in the meeting minutes or just made up when I asked for any resolution that appointed her as the Election supervisor? Why did it have Matt Gunnels listed as Vice-Chair on the first page, but then have him listed as Co-chair on the second page?

According to the Board of Election meeting where Connie mentioned that only one person had submitted their application and didn’t have strong accounting skills, either Tiffany’s application was the one they were speaking about or Tiffany didn’t apply at all? And if she didn’t apply, why not? Why didn’t she have to apply like everyone else?

And to wrap up the timeline of the Harris Heist, on June 11, 2024, it was recorded in the Board of Commissioner’s meeting that the second legal Board Member was appointed as Mary Murray. I am unable at this time to verify who works in the Elections office as Tiffany Harris has been refusing to answer my questions without open records requests and now refuses to answer them if I cannot pay money that I do not have to get these things that should be provided to me as a taxpayer participating in paying her check. I believe this is just her way to subvert me from digging any more into the hidden secrets that lie in her office.

So, if anyone can verify that Mary Murray is a Board Member on the Elections Board, I would be happy to entertain that information, but as it stands, it appears that Tiffany has her hands too far into the cookie jar, and she’s taken others with her on her crime spree to include the Probate Judge Heather Stuart, possibly the Probate Clerk, Julie Taylor, possibly the County Clerk, Amanda Bloodworth, and definitely Connie Harris, the County Manager. But was Tiffany the mastermind behind it all or just a willing participant in Connie’s – or maybe someone else’s – agenda to control the county’s money and the people who are put in office?

Summing up the Harris Heist

If we have an election supervisor who is willing to “do what thou wilt,” with no respect for the law or the people she is supposed to serve, is refusing transparency, is rude, arrogant, hasty, doesn’t mind manipulating documents to appear as though she hasn’t done anything wrong, and lies about her ties to Connie and who pays her, can we trust her to carry out safe, secure, and fair elections?

Here is a list of criminal violations that I have compiled through my investigation. These stand as allegations, not formal charges, currently.

• O.C.G.A § 16-4-8 – Conspiracy to Commit a Crime
• O.C.G.A § 45-3-9 – Entry into duties of office without an Oath (3 counts)
• O.C.G.A § 45-2-2 – Person to Hold Only One County Office; Commissioned Officer Not to Be Deputy for Another
• O.C.G.A. § 16-10-20.1 – Filing False Documents
• O.C.G.A. § 16-10-94 – Tampering with Evidence
• O.C.G.A. § 16-10-23 – Impersonating an Officer
• O.C.G.A. § 16-8-3 – Theft by Deception
• O.C.G.A. § 16-8-2 – Theft by Taking
• O.C.G.A. § 16-10-71 – False Swearing

In summary, I believe that Connie Harris had it in mind to bring her daughter-in-law as a favor into the Elections office. Animosity ensued due to the favoritism which caused two resignations in one day, and then Tiffany and Connie shoed Tiffany into the supervisor’s office. Tiffany didn’t have to apply, her pay was determined by Connie (there’s no indication that the commissioners had anything to do with this), and documents were created after the fact when I started asking questions.

At this time, there are no formal charges, and these exist only as allegations, but they have been raised to multiple agencies for investigation. I do see that there may have been some very uneducated or naive individuals and what seems like an intricate narrative that was being covered up well, that did not know what they were doing. We have an innate ability to trust those around us are doing right, but we need to always be checking that things are being done according to the law.

I would, however, be interested to hear what the commissioners think about all that has taken place without their knowledge and approval. And are they willing to address Tiffany’s indiscretions? Also, what do you as the citizen and taxpayer think?

If you have a story, feedback, or questions, please feel free to contact me at Plumblyne Productions by email at plumblyneproductions@gmail.com or call me at 229-329-2179. Don’t forget to subscribe, share, and follow to stay up to date.