Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for March 18, 2021

On March 18, 1766, the British Parliament repealed the Stamp Act, which required American colonists to purchase a stamp for every legal or printed document they obtained.  Revenue would be used to support the British army in America.

The Stamp Act led Patrick Henry to denounce King George III, the British Monarch at the time of the passage of the Stamp Act and the ensuing Revolutionary War; Henry’s later “Give Me Liberty or Give Me Death” speech to the Virginia Assembly at St. John’s Church in Richmond, Virginia, listed by Time magazine as one of the top ten speeches of all time. Henry later opposed adoption of the Constitution, arguing it was incomplete without a Bill of Rights; after the Bill of Rights was adopted, Henry was satisfied.

On March 18, 1939, the State of Georgia ratified the Bill of Rights, which were proposed 150 years earlier in 1789. Georgia initially declined to ratify the Bill of Rights arguing that the first ten amendments to the United States Constitution were unnecessary. Governor E.D. Rivers signed the joint resolution six days later, but under federal court decisions the ratification is marked as of the date the second house of the state legislature adopts the legislation (assuming a bi-cameral state legislature).

On March 18, 1942, the United States government, under President Franklin D. Roosevelt, created the War Relocation Authority to “Take all people of Japanese descent into custody, surround them with troops, prevent them from buying land, and return them to their former homes at the close of the war.” More than 120,000 Japanese Americans, many of them citizens of the United States were moved from the west coast into concentration camps in the western United States.

The 442nd Regimental Combat Team, composed entirely of Japanese Americans, many of whose families were interned at the camps, became the most-decorated unit of World War II, with members being awarded 4,667 medals, awards, and citations, including 1 Medal of Honor, 52 Distinguished Service Crosses, and 560 Silver Stars; eventually 21 members of the 442nd would be awarded the Medal of Honor. The late United States Senator Daniel Inouye, a member of the 442nd from 1941 to 1947, was awarded the Medal of Honor by President Bill Clinton for actions during WWII. First elected to the United States Senate in 1962, Inouye became President Pro Tem in 2010.

On March 18, 1947, Herman Talmadge surrendered the Governor’s office, ending the “Three Governors Affair.” Earlier this year, the General Assembly honored the late Governor Melvin Thompson, who was elected the first Lieutenant Governor of Georgia and became Governor at the conclusion of the Three Governors Affair.

On March 18, 1955, the Georgia Educators Association endorsed “equal but separate” schools for the races.

On March 18, 1961, the United States Supreme Court decided the case of Gray v. Sanders, which arose from Georgia. Three politically-important results come from the case.

First, the Court held that state regulation of the Democratic Primary made the primary election a state action, not merely that of a private organization; thus, the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment applies.

Second, the Equal Protection Clause requires that every vote be given equal weight in electing officials, often stated as the “one person, one vote” rule. In Georgia at that time, each County had between two and six “county unit votes”. As a result,

“One unit vote in Echols County represented 938 residents, whereas one unit vote in Fulton County represented 92,721 residents. Thus, one resident in Echols County had an influence in the nomination of candidates equivalent to 99 residents of Fulton County.”

Third, because the County Unit System gave the votes of some Georgians greater weight than that of others, it violated the Equal Protection Clause. The “one person, one vote” rule is one benchmark of redistricting.

On March 18, 1976, Governor George Busbee signed legislation recognizing the following official state symbols:

Staurolite – Official Mineral of Georgia
Shark’s Tooth – Official Fossil of Georgia
Clear Quartz – Official Gem of Georgia
Purple Quartz (Amethyst) – Official Gem of Georgia

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

President Donald Trump is encouraging Americans to get vaccinated against COVID-19, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

“I would recommend it,” Trump said during an interview on Fox News. “And I would recommend it to a lot of people that don’t want to get it and a lot of those people voted for me, frankly. But again, we have our freedoms and we have to live by that and I agree with that also.

“But it is a great vaccine,” he continued. “It is a safe vaccine and it is something that works.”

Trump first recommended his supporters get the vaccine during the Conservative Political Action Conference in Florida in February, telling the crowd “everybody go get your shot.”

Trump released a statement earlier this month taking credit for the availability of the vaccines, saying that if he hadn’t been president, “you wouldn’t be getting that beautiful ‘shot’ for 5 years, at best, and probably wouldn’t be getting it at all.”

“I hope everyone remembers,” Trump said.

Under the Gold Dome Today – Legislative Day 35

LEGISLATIVE COMMITTEE MEETINGS
7:30 AM Senate Insurance and Labor- Health and Workers Comp Sub – 450 CAP
8:00 AM Senate Ethics- canceled – 307 CLOB
8:00 AM Senate Appropriations- Compensation Sub – 450 CAP
8:00 AM CANCELLED – HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ELECTION INTEGRITY – 606 CLOB
8:00 AM CANCELLED – HOUSE NATURAL RESOURCES AND ENVIRONMENT – 606 CLOB
8:00 AM CANCELLED – HOUSE EDUCATION – 506 CLOB
8:30 AM HOUSE WAYS AND MEANS – 406 CLOB
9:00 AM HOUSE RULES – 341 CAP
10:00 AM Senate Floor Session – Senate Chamber
10:00 AM HOUSE FLOOR SESSION (LD35) – House Chamber
11:00 AM CANCELLED – HOUSE Judiciary Scoggins Sub – 132 CAP
Noonish Senate Rules upon Adjournment – 450 CAP
1:00 PM Senate Public Safety – Mezz 1
1:00 PM Senate Insurance and Labor – General Ins Sub – 450 CAP
1:00 PM HOUSE HIGHER EDUCATION – 341 CAP
1:00 PM CANCELLED – HOUSE Education Sub – 606 CLOB
1:00 PM HOUSE JUVENILE JUSTICE – 403 CAP
1:30 PM HOUSE PUBLIC SAFETY AND HOMELAND SECURITY – 415 CLOB
2:00 PM HOUSE SPECIAL COMMITTEE ON ELECTION INTEGRITY – 406 CLOB
2:00 PM HOUSE CREATIVE ARTS AND ENTERTAINMENT – 506 CLOB
2:15 PM Senate Agriculture and Consumer Affairs – canceled – Mezz 1
2:15 PM Senate Transportation – 450 CAP
3:30 PM Senate Regulated Industries and Utilities – 450 CAP
3:30 PM HOUSE STATE PLANNING AND COMMUNITY AFFAIRS – 606 CLOB
4:45 PM Senate Government Oversight – canceled – 450 CAP

Governor Brian Kemp yesterday announced that Judges and courtroom staff will be eligible for COVID-19 vaccines, according to Fox5Atlanta.

Responding to a backlog of court cases in Georgia that built up since the judicial state of emergency issued in 2020, Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp is making judges and courtroom staff eligible for COIVD-19 vaccines, effective Tuesday.

“We believe it is vital to get the third branch of state government back operating smoothly and safely,” Kemp said.“We will be moving quickly … to expand criteria in order to ensure we don’t have vaccines sitting on a shelf or in a freezer somewhere.”

Kathleen Toomey, Commissioner of the Georgia Department of Public Health, pointed to a decrease in nursing home outbreaks as an encouraging sign the COIVD-19 vaccine is working.

“There’s a lot of availability now,” she said. “This is going to be our freedom in Georgia, to be able to get back to the Georgia we want to be.”

Kemp urged hesitant Georgians to speak to healthcare providers regarding risks.

“It is safe, it is very effective,” Kemp said.

Kemp said his office issued a letter to COVID-19 vaccine providers on Tuesday instructing them to utilize no less than 80% of their weekly allocation of first doses within seven days of receiving those doses. Providers are now responsible for reporting doses within 24 hours of administration, Kemp said.

“I’m not worried about politics. I’m worried about following the science and the data… and ensuring that these individuals have access to the vaccination program,” Kemp said.

Governor Kemp announced the opening of five additional mass vaccination sites, according to AccessWDUN.

Some reports have said Georgia is dead last among states in getting the available shots distributed, but Kemp disputed that. He said Georgia was ahead of recommendations from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in getting people age 65 and older eligible for the vaccine.

About 75 percent of Georgia’s COVID-related deaths are in the 65-plus age group.

“We’re really trying to keep those people out of the hospital and keep them from succumbing to this evil, invisible virus.” Kemp said.

Gov. Kemp joined the groundbreaking for an expansion of the Savannah Convention Center, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Georgia Gov Brian Kemp along with both elected officials, economic development staff and business leaders gathered next to the Savannah River at the facility for the official ceremony.

The convention center expansion is a $271 million project that will double the exhibit hall space to 200,000 square feet, add a 58-foot-wide glass hangar door, construct a 40,000 square-foot ballroom and add 15 additional meeting rooms and a 900-space on-site parking garage. It is scheduled for completion in 2023.

The expansion will allow the city to host larger conventions and meetings, much to the delight of not only Savannahians but also to a number of groups that have already applauded the move.

Savannah Mayor Van Johnson thanked former Mayor Eddie DeLoach, who also attended, for his support of the project. “Things don’t happen in a vacuum, they happen as a continuum.”

Gov. Kemp, who was instrumental in securing state funding for the project, said the expansion fits with his goals.

“One of the top priorities of my administration has been to spur job creation and economic prosperity not just in metro Atlanta but all across the Peach State,” Kemp said. “Savannah and Coastal Georgia are known around the world as a hub for tourism and economic development, and this convention center expansion will only strengthen that first-class reputation.”

Kemp said the project’s benefits extend beyond Savannah.

“Working with the General Assembly, we prioritized this project because of its importance to the region and our state as a whole.”

Also in Savannah, Gov. Kemp criticized federal COVID relief measures that may prohibit Georgia from lowering state taxes, according to the AJC.

At a stop in Savannah on Wednesday, Gov. Brian Kemp said Georgians are getting “punished” by the measure because it relies upon a formula that gives states with robust economies a smaller share of direct aid.

“We’re the losers. Georgians are the losers in this,” he said of the $4.7 billion in direct funding the state is set to receive. “And states that needed bailouts are getting more money than Georgians are getting. I appreciate the relief, but I wish it was fair and equitable to our citizens.”

Republican Attorney General Chris Carr, who like Kemp also faces a tough reelection battle in 2022, opened a new front when he joined 20 other GOP counterparts in a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellin objecting to restrictions on how the money can be spent.

Though the legislation broadly outlined that the relief money couldn’t be used to cut taxes, Republicans have complained that the language could be interpreted to apply to tax cuts already in the works. Yellin hasn’t publicly commented on that issue.

“It’s disingenuous that their relief package has tax exemptions in it for working families while it’s trying to prevent us from cutting taxes,” Kemp said.

Georgia is appealing a federal reversal of approval of healthcare waivers sought by the state and approved by the Trump Administration, according to the AJC.

Georgia officials, as expected, have appealed the new federal position on the state’s Medicaid waiver plan, saying its possible revocation by the Biden administration would be “an arbitrary and unlawful bait-and-switch.”

The commissioner of the state’s Department of Community Health, in a letter dated March 12, noted that federal health officials last year approved Georgia’s approach to require low-income adults to meet work or other eligibility standards to get Medicaid coverage.

Those requirements were at the center of the Biden administration’s criticism last month of the Georgia plan, which is scheduled to begin July 1.

If the feds revoke the Medicaid waiver plan, “Georgia will challenge the decision,’’ Commissioner of Community Health Frank Berry wrote in the conclusion of his letter to officials with the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. He called the work and other eligibility requirements “core to the waiver.’’

U.S. Representative Jody Hice (R-Walton County) is considering running for Georgia Secretary of State, according to the AJC.

Shortly after we reported that former Alpharetta Mayor David Belle Isle planned to challenge Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Monday, rumbling about another major GOP contender heated up.

U.S. Rep. Jody Hice has confirmed he’s seriously considering running for the statewide post. He appeared on Doug Collins’ radio show on Wednesday to say that former President Donald Trump is “supportive” of his potential candidacy and that he’ll soon announce his decision.

The four-term congressman would not only pose a serious threat to Raffensperger, who is under fire from fellow Republicans after the 2020 election, but also leave vacant his deeply-conservative northeast Georgia seat.

For those of y’all handicapping a possible 2022 election for Secretary of State, remember: indictments change election dynamics.

Senate Bill 202 is the first major transplant recipient of the 2021 Georgia General Assembly. From the AJC:

A third, new comprehensive [Election Reform] bill popped up Wednesday afternoon at a hearing of the House Special Committee on Election Integrity, when Fleming, the Republican from Harlem, produced a wide-ranging House substitute to Senate Bill 202.

The original version of SB 202 was a narrow, two-page bill that would prevent third-party groups from sending absentee ballot applications to voters who have already requested an absentee ballot.

The Fleming substitute ballooned to 93 pages, added 50 new sections to the original Senate-passed language, and came about an hour before the 3:00 hearing. Democrats and voting-rights advocates balked at the swap, especially since they had come prepared to speak against the original SB 202, which was the announced topic of the hearing.

From the Capitol Beat News Service via the Rome News Tribune:

Democrats on the committee cried foul over the speed and sparse advance notice of the bill, as did some voting-rights advocates who spoke up to denounce what they view as closed-door crafting of legislation that would bring major changes to how, when and where Georgians can vote.

“I’m just trying to understand the process here of how we’re doing things,” said Rep. Rhonda Burnough, D-Riverdale. “Are we just taking bills piece-by-piece and just putting them in when we want to? … Something’s not right.”

Burns’ newly transformed bill contains proposals from several other omnibus measures in the current legislative session, including proposals allowing state elections officials to take control of poor-performing county election boards, requiring absentee-ballot drop boxes to be located inside early-voting polling places and blocking mail-in ballot applications from being processed within 11 days of an election.

The bill also contains a contentious proposal allowing an unlimited number of challenges to voter qualifications ahead of elections, potentially freeing up the sort of large-scale moves to formally dispute voter registrations seen before Georgia’s U.S. Senate runoffs in January.

Speaking at Wednesday’s hearing, Fleming stressed no votes would be taken on Burns’ bill and that more testimony would be taken on Thursday.

Also included in Burns’ bill are proposals from another omnibus election measure from Senate Majority Leader Mike Dugan, R-Carrollton, that is expected to scrap a controversial repeal of no-excuse absentee voting in Georgia but may soon incorporate proposals from other bills as it continues moving through the legislature.

House Bill 112, extending COVID-19 liability shields for businesses passed the General Assembly yesterday, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Rome News Tribune.

The bill, sponsored by state House Majority Whip Trey Kelley, R-Cedartown, extends liability protections for another year to shield businesses and health-care facilities in Georgia from lawsuits brought by people who contract COVID-19 in all but the worst negligence or recklessness cases.

The liability protections, which passed late in last year’s pandemic-interrupted legislative session, took effect in August and were set to expire in mid-July of this year. Kelley’s bill extends the protections sunset to July 14, 2022.

“I think the bill strikes the right balance in still allowing gross negligence cases to be brought,” [Senator Brian] Strickland said form the Senate floor on Wednesday. “We do expect businesses to provide some precautions, and that’s the balance we try to strike in this bill.”

Kelley’s bill passed Wednesday in the Senate 36-17 with some Democratic lawmakers voting in favor after it passed last month in the House of Representatives along party lines. The bill now heads to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk for his signature.

The gross-negligence threshold marked a compromise between health-care professionals, business leaders and trial attorneys in the final days of last year’s session that sparked disagreement between House and Senate Republicans.

Kelley, who chairs the House Special Committee on Access to the Civil Justice System, where the liability protections faced debate, was joined on the bill by more than a dozen co-sponsors including several top Republican lawmakers as well as long-time Democratic Reps. Calvin Smyre of Columbus and Mary Margaret Oliver of Decatur.

House Bill 479 by State Rep. Bert Reeves (R-Highest Point of Any Given State) repeals Georgia’s existing citizens arrest statute and passed the Senate Judiciary Committee, according to the AJC.

The citizen’s arrest law came under renewed scrutiny after it was cited by a prosecutor last year to justify not charging three white men involved in the shooting death of Ahmaud Arbery.

The Senate Judiciary Committee unanimously passed House Bill 479.

The rollback of the law is a top priority of Gov. Brian Kemp, who said the overhaul “strikes a critical balance between protecting the lives and livelihoods of our families, our friends and our neighbors, and preventing rogue vigilantism from threatening the security and God-given potential of all Georgians.”

“Gov. Kemp felt compelled as leader of this state to send a message on this issue and explain that this is not a law we’re going to have (and that) we’re not going to honor in Georgia anymore,” said state Rep. Bert Reeves, a Marietta Republican who sponsored the legislation.

State Rep. Kasey Carpenter (R-Dalton) was the subject of a sexual harassment complaint by Democratic legislators, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

More than a dozen Democratic lawmakers said Tuesday they are filing sexual harassment complaints, saying a male lawmaker’s joke on the House floor typifies a General Assembly that is hostile to women.

Rep. Kasey Carpenter, a Dalton Republican, made the remark Monday as the state House debated sedation during outpatient surgery.

“Is it not true that this bill will provide safety measures to ensure that Cardi B’s backside implants will be safe and ensure a lifetime of effectiveness?” state Rep. Kasey Carpenter, a Dalton Republican, said Monday, the day after the rapper performed at the Grammy Awards.

Carpenter apologized before the House Tuesday.

“I can assure you I never wanted to come across that way, and I apologize if my words offended you in any way, and I hope you can find it in your heart to forgive me,” Carpenter said.

“How many apologies do we have to accept before we are given a basic level of respect?” asked state Rep. Shelly Hutchinson, a Snellville Democrat. “I never thought after I was elected by my constituents that I would be here asking for safety in the workplace.”

Georgia lawmakers enacted new sexual harassment guidelines two years ago after a lobbyist filed a complaint in 2018 against then-state Sen. David Shafer, a Republican who ran unsuccessfully for lieutenant governor.

The lobbyist said Shafer retaliated against her and harassed her after helping her get a bill passed in 2011. Shafer, now chairman of the Georgia Republican Party, denied the allegation. It was dismissed by the Senate Ethics Committee.

Savannah’s legislative delegation will not vote on local legislation to increase the hotel/motel tax, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Visitors to Savannah won’t face an increased tax for overnight stays after a request from Savannah City Council was rejected by the local legislative delegation to the Georgia General Assembly on Wednesday. Council adopted a resolution asking state lawmakers to bump the hotel/motel tax from 6% to 8% during its meeting last month.

The increase was to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2022.

Rep. Ron Stephens (R-Savannah), who chairs the local delegation, said the timing just wasn’t right. He pledged that lawmakers would consider the measure again in the 2022 legislative session “once we get a clear picture of what the economy is doing” in Savannah.

 

 

 

 

Watkinsville Mayor and former State Rep. Bob Smith resigned, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

The former state representative won the mayoral position by 2 votes in 2019.

At the time of his narrow victory, Smith said: “I’m looking forward to moving Watkinsville in the right direction … I went door to door. When you go door to door you listen to the people. A major thing I saw is the incredible talent that is in Watkinsville proper that we don’t hear from. I’m excited about being able to call on some of these people to help us in various things.”

Smith posted a statement on Facebook outlining the reasons for his resignation.

“As I have seen in the past 14 months, there is no need for the position of mayor,” the statement read, in part.

Councilman Brian Brodrick is acting mayor until a special election.

The Hall County Board of Elections is suing the County Commission over authority regarding the Elections Director, according to the Gainesville Times.

After publicly airing frustrations over the supervision and performance review of elections director Lori Wurtz at various board meetings over the past month, the elections board filed a lawsuit against the Hall County government and County Administrator Jock Connell on March 16.

According to the 67-page civil action document, the elections board states that the Hall County Board of Commissioners had no legal authority in enacting home rule by amending state legislation in 2018. That amendment created the elections director position and established supervisory control of the position under the county administrator.

The board believes that the oversight given to Connell through the amendment — which includes the day-to-day supervision, disciplinary action and termination of the elections director — should be a power held under the umbrella of the elections board.

In 2014, the passage of a bill formerly titled HB 1131 created a unified five-member board of elections and registration for Hall County, subsequently abolishing the board of registration. The elections board assumed the powers to conduct elections and registration and absentee balloting measures

In the court document, the board argues that the county commissioners did not have the authority to amend the enabling legislation which was passed through a separate legislative body, the Georgia General Assembly, thereby acting out of the scope of their authority.

The Lowndes County Board of Education approved the school calendar for the 2022-2023 school year, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

 

 

Election Results

Glynn County voters rejected a Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (SPLOST), according to The Brunswick News.

Voters rejected a SPLOST referendum in Tuesday’s special election, but they will have an opportunity to reconsider their vote in 2022.

That was the response to the vote during Wednesday’s Golden Isles Chamber of Commerce meeting.

“It was a heated debate in our community this year,” said Jimmy Arnold, the chamber’s advocacy and governmental affairs chairman.

Arnold said the low voter turnout hurt the chances for the referendum to be approved. The plan is to give voters another chance to consider the tax during the November 2022 general election, where voter turnout will be much higher than during a special election in March. A public eduction campaign will be held to explain the advantages of the tax, where a sizable portion is paid by tourists visiting the Golden Isles and motorists traveling on Interstate 95.

“There was not a lot of understanding about the tax,” Arnold said. “We still thought it stood a good chance.”

Catoosa, Dade and Walker County voters separately approved Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax for Education referenda, according to WDEF.

Catoosa eSPLOST
YES 1,635
NO 467

Dade eSPLOST
YES 525
NO 166

Walker eSPLOST
YES 817
NO 231

Whitfield County District 3 voters sent Shane Day and John Thomas to a runoff election for County Commission, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

Shane Day, global sales director for Tiarco Chemical in Dalton, finished first in a five-person race to fill the late Roger Crossen’s unexpired term with 467 votes (29.37%). But because Day did not finish with more than 50% of the vote, he will go to a runoff with John Thomas, a realtor and former member of the Whitfield County Board of Education, who finished second with 430 votes (27.04%). With turnout light at 9.72%, fewer than 340 votes separated first place from fifth place.

“First place is always a good place to finish,” said Day. “I want to thank every single person who voted for me. I thank all of those who encouraged me during the campaign. I want to challenge each of them to come back to the polls on April 13 and show that we can do it again. We’ve got two great candidates (in the runoff), two great choices. Over the next four weeks, I’m going to keep working hard. I’m going to be talking to as many people as I can, especially some of the other candidates and see if I can get some of their endorsements.”

Thomas said he is pleased to be in the runoff.

“I feel great,” he said. “We knew that with five people in the race there was going to be a runoff. We are going to continue to work hard, even harder than we have. I’m going to be trying to get out even more and talk to more people. I appreciate everyone who came out and voted for me. I had a lot of people working for me during the campaign, and I want to thank them. I also want to say that the four other candidates ran a clean race. I’m thankful that we all got along so well.”

Sandersville voters approved a referendum to allow Sunday alcohol sales, according to WGXA.

Voters in Sandersville said yes to Sunday Alcohol Sales in Washington County.

Sixty-nine percent of voters said Alcohol should be available for sale between 12:30 p.m. and 11:30 p.m.

Only 161 people voted. 111 of those residents voted yes, while the other 50 voted no.

“I think it’s going to help them some, I can’t really say how much. It is going to make it more convenient for people who do want to purchase. If they want to stop at the convenience stores and get some groceries or gas. They want to buy some beer or wine it could make it more convenient to them. Of course, the merchant will profit from it and the city will get the sales tax from it,” says [Mayor James] Andrews.

Andrews says the sales tax is always a plus for the city of Sandersville.

“Our sales tax here is 8 percent so we get 8 cents on the dollar. Sales tax is very important to us because it’s a lot of people that come in here from surrounding counties, and shop in our grocery stores and Walmart. We attract people from Hancock County, Wilkinson, Glascock, some from Baldwin, Johnson County, and Jefferson County. We are not a very big city but we are kind of a hub here,” says Andrews.

Butts County voters overwhelmingly approved of an Special Option Sales Tax for Education (E-SPLOST), as did voters in Dodge County, Houston County, and Macon County,  according to WGXA.

Wilkinson County voters defeated the Education SPLOST, according to WGXA.

Henry County voters approved the E-SPLOST, according to the Henry Herald.

Henry County voters have approved the next iteration of the Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax.

A total of 6,384 ballots were cast with 4,342 voting in favor and 2,042 voting against.

The approval allows the school district to collect as much as $325 million between January 2023 and December 2028 and to issue $210 million in general obligation bonds.

Derek Mack won the special election to a Warner Robins City Council seat, according to 41NBC.

Houston County voters have chosen to extend the county’s Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax, or E-SPLOST, for five more years.

The current E-SPLOST ends on March 31, 2022. The county’s board of education approved a referendum resolution in December that, if approved by voters, would extend the one-cent tax through March 31, 2027, or until a cap of $190 million is reached, whichever comes first.

The Houston County Board of Elections tells 41NBC 5,256 of 5,999 voters (87.6%) were in favor of extending the E-SPLOST.

Mack received 2,042 of 3,266 (62.5%) votes in the special election, beating out David Reid (956), Catherine Harless (181) and Jeffery Walker (87).

Oconee County voters approved the extension of the Local Option Sales Tax, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

The county’s Education Local Option Sales Tax, or ELOST, is a 1% sales tax in place since 1998. The ELOST runs on a five-year cycle, and collection is capped at $48.5 million in its latest extension.

Just over 1,900 of the county’s registered voters participated in the referendum, most voting early. Of the votes cast, 1,600 were in favor of the ELOST.

Troup County voters passed their Education Special Purpose Local Option Sales Tax (E-SPLOST), according to the LaGrange News.

A total of 2338 voters chose yes, or 70 percent, and 1020 chose no, or 30 percent. The E-SPLOST vote was the only election on the ballot.

[Troup County School Systam] is projecting that it will collect $72,159,375 in E-SPLOST VI, plus projects to receive roughly $8 million in capital outlay funding, which is allocated by the state for use in specific projects that meet the state’s criteria. TCSS has released $81,802,982 worth of proposed projects for ESPLOST VI.

E-SPLOST VI was passed in every single precinct, though voter turnout was low. Seven of the 14 precincts had less than 100 total election day votes.