Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for October 15, 2024

Friday, October 15, 1582 marked the beginning of the adoption of the Gregorian Calendar – the previous day was Thursday, October 4th.

George Washington left New York, the nation’s capital, on October 15, 1789, embarking upon the first Presidential tour to New England.

The world’s first combat submarine, CSS Hunley, sunk during testing in Charleston Harbor on October 15, 1863.

The 20th Amendment to the United States Constitution took effect October 15, 1933, changing the Presidential term of office to begin and end on January 20th following each quadrennial election and Senate and Congress to January 3d following biennial elections, both from March 4th.

Billy Graham launched his national ministry on October 15, 1949 in Los Angeles, California.

Interstate 285 around Atlanta was completed on October 15, 1969.

The Omni opened in Atlanta on  October 15, 1972, as the Hawks beat the New York Knicks by a score of 109-101.

Former Secretary General of the Communist Party of the USSR Mikhail Gorbachev won the Nobel Peace Prize on October 15, 1990

Georgia-born Clarence Thomas was confirmed as an Associate Justice of the United States Supreme Court on October 15, 1991.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter (R-SSI) urged Georgia voters to cast their ballots in early voting, beginning today, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Republicans typically vote late during the early voting cycle, or they wait until Election Day to cast their votes.

U.S. Rep. Buddy Carter, R-1, urged people to break that trend and vote early during a meeting Monday of the Golden Isles Republican Women’s Club.

Carter reminded the audience that early voting starts today and there are plenty of opportunities for everyone to vote before Election Day on Nov. 5.

“Please cast your vote now,” he said. “There are no excuses. This is the most important election of our lifetime.”

He said the Election Integrity Act “makes voting easier and cheating harder.”

He criticized Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic nominee for president, for her campaign promises.

“It is amazing that Kamala Harris is saying she will fix what she spent the last four years breaking,” he said. “Are you better off than you were four years ago? She cannot take her fingerprints off the last four years.”

Carter predicted everyone will pay more taxes if Harris defeats former President Donald Trump.

Democratic voting rights groups are mobilizing to turnout voters for November 5th General Election, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

At 12 PM and 4 PM on Tuesday, October 15, 2024 the first day of early voting, the Georgia Coalition for the People’s Agenda, RISE, Georgia Black Women’s Roundtable, GA Black Youth Vote, Equity for All, and other women’s and youth groups are launching “Overload the Polls,” an initiative mobilizing women and students in 25 counties across Georgia to turn out to vote en masse.

In an effort to send a powerful message, women and students from urban and rural communities, as well as college campuses, are organizing their friends and families to show up and vote in large numbers. The goal is to demonstrate the collective strength of women and young voters, underscoring their ability to influence the democratic process from the very start of the voting period in Georgia.

Mail-in voters might want to return their ballots early or using a drop box, according to 13WMAZ.

If you can’t make it to the polls on Election Day, or want to be a proactive citizen and get it done ahead of time, you can vote early now until the Friday before on Nov. 1.

You can also request a mail-in ballot.
But if you do that, Election Supervisor Tom Gillon said get it done “As soon as possible.”
Your ballot must be delivered at your precinct by 7 o’clock on Election Night.

To ensure your vote is counted, do not mail your ballot on election day because mail delivery is spotty.

The United States Postal Service recommends you send in your ballot at least a week before the Nov. 5 deadline. That would be Oct. 29, which is two weeks away from today.

“They’ll get there, hopefully as soon as possible, but you want to get them back to us as soon as possible too,” Gillon said.

He said the Macon-Bibb Board of Elections Office “will have a dropbox here at the office that you can bring the ballot in, and bring it in person, thus bypassing the mail.” He said any voters in Macon-Bibb voting by mail can drop it off at that location only.

You have 10 days from the first day of Early Voting to request an absentee ballot.

“The last day to request one is October the 25th, but I wouldn’t wait that long,” Gillon said. “If possible, I would get your request in sooner than that.”

From Atlanta News First via WTVM:

“We are prepared for a historic turnout. We know it’s a presidential election, and we staffed accordingly,” said Keisha Smith, elections director in DeKalb County.

Smith said the county hired more than 2,000 poll workers for the 2024 election, an increase from prior years.

Early voting is something both Democrats and Republicans urge voters to do to avoid long lines on Election Day, which is Nov. 5.

Voters will be able to cast their ballot at polling places starting Tuesday at 7 a.m. through Nov. 1.

Georgia will play a key role in deciding who will take the White House — former President Donald Trump or Vice President Kamala Harris.

Back in 2020, people who voted on Election Day waited for hours in line at polling places, which is why DeKalb County Republican Party Chair Marci McCarthy urges people to take advantage of early voting.

“We’re going to have an opportunity to vote early and in person on two Saturdays, as well as two Sundays and every weekend from now until Nov. 1,” she said.

Democratic State Sen. Jason Esteves also encourages people to cast their vote as early as possible.

Voters will need a valid ID to cast their vote. Now is a good time to check your voter registration.

For early voting, voters can go to any early voting location. It doesn’t have to be their designated polling location. For example, Fulton County has 44 polling locations and 37 of them are for early voting.

From WJBF:

Early voting kicks off today in Georgia for the November general election.

You must be registered and have a picture ID with you to vote.

Polling locations in Augusta will be open from 8:30 AM – 6:00 PM, and from 8:00 AM to 5:00 PM in Columbia County.

From Georgia Recorder:

Several million Georgia voters are expected to cast ballots in an election featuring the presidential contest, congressional races and all 236 seats in the state Legislature. Early voting begins in Georgia during the same week that several Georgia courts are considering ongoing legal challenges over election rules enacted by members of the State Election Board loyal to Trump.

Early voting runs through Nov. 1.

Georgians who intend to vote in person at one of the 2,400 polling locations on Election Day must be in line by 7 p.m. on Nov. 5.

Georgia now has 7.17 million active registered voters. During the 2020 presidential election Georgia had 7.2 million registered voters, an increase of 1.79 million voters since 2016 and 805,000 voters since the 2018 gubernatorial election between Republican Brian Kemp and Democrat Stacey Abrams.

According to Georgia Elections Director Blake Evans, about 70% of voter registration applications come through the Georgia Department of Driver Services. About 12% of registration applications were submitted via the state’s online registration portal, and 19% are made with paper applications.

So far in the 2024 general election, about 260,000 Georgia have requested absentee ballots ahead of the Oct. 25 deadline to request mail-in ballots.

Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer for the secretary of state’s office, said that early voting is a strong option for voters, especially since there may be  delivery delays for some absentee ballots mailed through the U.S. Postal Service.

“One thing you can do, which is what most Georgians do, is show up and vote in person early,” Sterling said. “That is the best way because you can plan your vote. If you’re in a major metro area, they have wait times on their websites to show you how long the waits are, so you don’t have to go on day one and wait in line for three hours.”

From the AJC:

Early voting begins Tuesday in Georgia and with it comes big election developments, including:

• A pivotal hearing in a lawsuit alleging the state Election Board overstepped its authority when it passed a series of new rules, including one mandating hand counts of paper ballots on election night.

• Former President Trump’s appearance in a Fox News Town Hall in Cumming.

• Former President Trump’s rally in Cobb County Tuesday evening.

Georgia voters will decide three statewide referenda, according to WJBF.

Two of them are proposed amendments to the Georgia Constitution and the other is a House Bill. Here’s what they are and what they could mean:

House Resolution No. 1022:

“Provides for a general law state-wide homestead exemption that may differentiate among political subdivisions.”

“Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to authorize the General Assembly to provide by general law for a state-wide homestead exemption that serves to limit increases in the assessed value of homesteads, but which any county, consolidated government, municipality, or local school system may opt out of upon the completion of certain procedures?”

This amendment would be used to slow property tax hikes that occur when home values rise. Property taxes are based on the assessed value of a home and the property tax rate.

If it is approved, home property assessments could be capped at the inflation rate for the previous year. By doing this, it would hold down assessment increases so property taxes would be limited as well.

The proposal would also allow local governments to use revenue from a 1% sales tax increase to lower property taxes. Some counties and cities already carry taxes like this, the Atlanta Journal Constitution (AJC) reported.

House Resolution No. 598:

“Provides for a state-wide Georgia Tax Court.”

“Shall the Constitution of Georgia be amended so as to provide for the Georgia Tax Court to be vested with the judicial power of the state and to have venue, judges, and jurisdiction concurrent with superior courts?”

The second proposed amendment would create a state tax court that would be equipped with judicial power and statewide jurisdiction. The state has a Tax Tribunal, which is under the executive branch.

This tax court would be responsible for handling cases concerning complaints involving the state Department of Revenue. The tax court would have a chief judge appointed by the governor, and the chief judge would appoint up to three assistant court judges, the AJC said.

Each judge on the court would serve four years, with the approval of the state’s Senate and House Judiciary Committees.

A “yes” vote would create the new tax court, while a “no” vote would leave the current system in place.

Statewide Referendum Question

House Bill No. 808

“Do you approve the Act that increases an exemption from property tax for all tangible personal property from $7,500.00 to $20,000.00?”

The third ballot question would raise the amount of tangible personal property tax exemption from the current $7,500 to $20,000.

“All tangible personal property” excludes motor vehicles, trailers and mobile homes, but includes furniture, aircraft, boats, machinery and similar belongings.

Personal property includes furniture, fixtures, machinery, equipment, inventory and other property used in a business. This would also include aircraft or boats owned by an individual or corporation.

The Savannah Rapids Pavilion voting location in Columbia County will be changed because of Hurricane damage, according to WRDW.

Due to damage from Hurricane Helene, the polling location at Savannah Rapids Pavilion will be changed.

[T]he voting on Nov. 5 will take at Stevens Creek Community Church, 600 Stevens Creek Road.

Former President Bill Clinton (D) rallied Democratic voters in Columbus yesterday, according to WTVM.

An aggressive push by the Democratic ticket brought former President Bill Clinton to Columbus Monday morning, following a sweep through rural Georgia over the weekend.

The scene outside the Democratic Coordinated Campaign headquarters on Macon Road was lively Monday morning, as supporters eagerly awaited the former president’s arrival. Clinton received a warm welcome from the crowd, who also enjoyed his humor.

“Now they say we have the power to change the weather,” Clinton said.

“There are seven states where the election is too close to call,” Clinton said. “We could win them all or lose them all, including the Peach State. Georgia has more experience than almost any other state in climbing those barriers and breaching them.”

Clinton drew voters of all ages to the Democratic campaign headquarters in Columbus. Many people came from miles away to see him, including those who voted for him in the ‘90s.

The campaign stop also provided opportunities for canvassing and phone banking. Leslie Lanning stressed the election’s importance.

Georgia Democratic Party Chair Nikema Williams spoke about Clinton’s history in Georgia and the importance of canvassing and phone banking.

Early voting kicks off Tuesday in Georgia. In Columbus, voters can vote early at the City Services Building, Columbus Tech, and Shirley B. Winston Rec Center.

Congressman Sanford Bishop and Teddy Reese are also scheduled to speak at this event.

Vice President Kamala Harris’s husband, Doug Emhoff, visits Savannah Thursday, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Emhoff hopes to drum up enthusiasm among Democratic voters during the state’s early voting period and encourage Savannah residents to cast their ballots for Harris and her running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz.

Emhoff most recently visited Georgia on Oct. 10, where he appeared at campaign events alongside actress Julia Roberts and R.E.M. singer Michael Stipe in Atlanta and Athens.

Mr. Emhoff spoke in Athens last week, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

Last week Doug Emhoff, the husband of U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, and Michael Stipe, the lead singer for Hall of Fame rock band REM, both took to the stage to provide star power to a political rally in Athens.

As Emhoff gave a speech and Stipe reeled off some songs, more than 370 people stood on the ground floor offering a loud applause for a gathering organized to boost the presidential campaign for Harris.

“I’ve been an REM fan from since day one,” said Emhoff, who spoke to the crowd on the evening of Oct. 10, just three days before he turned 60 years old.

Earlier in the day, Emhoff said he and Stipe visited Wuxtry Records in downtown Athens, where Stipe, now a 64-year-old man still writing songs and making photographs, first met his former bandmate Peter Buck.

“This is the election, not only of our lifetime, this is the election of our nation’s lifetime,” Emhoff said. “You actually have a chance to do something about it here in Georgia.”

“This election is close – it’s crazy – I know it shouldn’t be, but it is unfortunately,” he said.

The candidate’s husband also warned that Trump, whom he described as a reality TV actor, will be a bigger threat to the country’s democracy if he is re-elected.

Emhoff said his wife wants to build an economy for everyone, help small businesses and keep costs low. This is why she is getting endorsements from independent business leaders and CEOs, he said.

After Emhoff spoke Stipe took the stage and explained how he first met Harris and Emhoff years ago in a Manhattan, New York, restaurant.

Stipe, who spent his teenage years in Athens before his musical career began as a student at the University of Georgia, performed a song that he debuted at the American Museum of Natural History in New York.

Standing between two guitarists, a second song was offered. “There is No Time for Love Like Now,” is a new song he previously had not performed before a live audience.

Then harkening back to when he was only 25 years old, Stipe closed out his three-set performance by singing “Driver 8,” a song released in 1985 about a train ride.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled that county boards of elections must certify election results, according to the AJC.

Certifying elections is a required duty of county election boards in Georgia, and they’re not allowed to refuse finalizing results based on suspicions of miscounts or fraud, a Fulton County judge ruled Tuesday.

Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney rejected claims brought by Fulton County election board member Julie Adams, who voted against certifying this spring’s presidential primary.

McBurney ruled that Georgia law requires certification, and county election boards don’t have any discretion not to do so.

“If election superintendents were, as plaintiff urges, free to play investigator, prosecutor, jury, and judge and so — because of a unilateral determination of error or fraud — refuse to certify election results, Georgia voters would be silenced,” McBurney wrote “Our Constitution and our election code do not allow for that to happen.”

Adams, a Republican Party appointee to the board, had sued after she declined to certify the presidential and general primary because other county officials declined to fulfill her requests for a long list of election documents before the certification deadline.

Adams claimed in her lawsuit that she is “unable to fulfill her oath of office.” She was outvoted by the Democratic majority of the Fulton election board, which certified the primaries.

McBurney ruled that election information should be promptly provided to Adams and election board members, but any delay in receiving information isn’t a basis for refusing to certify elections. All votes must be certified, and election boards don’t have the ability to exclude individual voters or precincts, he wrote.

When there are concerns about fraud or abuse, Georgia law allows candidates to file an election contest in court, McBurney said. It’s not up to election board members to adjudicate those claims.

Quoting the wizard Gandalf from “The Lord of the Rings,” McBurney wrote that the law’s requirement that election board members “shall” certify means it is mandatory.

“As only lawyers (and judges) can, we have muddied and mangled the meaning of the word ‘shall’ in our business,” McBurney wrote in a footnote. “To users of common parlance, ‘shall’ connotes instruction or command: You shall not pass!”

Elsewhere in the AJC:

An attempt to invalidate new Georgia election rules goes to court Tuesday, including an election night hand-count verification of the number of ballots cast.

Cobb County’s election board sued the State Election Board over the rules, arguing that they’re unreasonable and exceed the board’s authority.

The lawsuit asks Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney to nullify the hand count as well as five other rules passed Sept. 20, such as requirements for poll watching in tabulation areas, reconciliation of ballot counts, and public posting of the number of early and absentee voters.

The Republican National Committee defended the rules in a similar case that’s scheduled to be heard in court Wednesday.

“The General Assembly has tasked the State Election Board, not courts, with policy decisions about elections,” the RNC’s brief states. “When an election is close at hand, courts should not step in and change the rules.”

Besides Cobb County, State Election Board rules are also being contested in court by several Republicans, the Democratic Party, and election boards in DeKalb and Muscogee counties.

Judges could make rulings anytime after court hearings on Tuesday and Wednesday. Regardless of the outcome, the cases will likely be appealed, setting up high-stakes legal disputes right before Election Day on Nov. 5.

Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville ruled that citizen complaints cannot force the Governor to investigate members of the State Election Board, according to the AJC.

A Fulton County judge dismissed a lawsuit Wednesday by Democrats who tried to force Georgia Gov. Brian Kemp to launch an ethics investigation of Republican State Election Board members who recently changed several election rules.

The Democrats can’t compel the governor to start ethics hearings — which could lead to removal from office — based on letters to Kemp they labeled as “formal charges,” Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville said as he ruled from the bench.

“I am not persuaded that the petitioners have a clear right to require the governor to investigate and hold a hearing based on public citizens’ complaint about the State Election Board,” Glanville said. “There needs to be some investigation … then trigger the governor to do something in that respect, not just a letter by the citizens.”

Three Democrats sued Kemp after he declined to act on their demands for ethics hearings. State Attorney General Chris Carr advised Kemp that citizens’ complaints are insufficient to start a hearing process.

“They’re going rogue, and there’s no accountability,” said state Sen. Nabilah Islam Parkes, a Democrat from Duluth and the lead plaintiff. “They need to be held accountable because we need to have fair elections.”

Under state law, the governor is required to order an ethics hearing upon receipt of “formal charges,” but Glanville said in his ruling there should be an official investigation before ethics accusations are “formal.” Investigations can be conducted by agencies such as the attorney general’s office or the inspector general’s office, he said.

If there were an ethics hearing and an administrative judge found ethics violations, state law would call for the governor to remove State Election Board members from office.

An attorney for the Democrats said previous governors have removed officials from office without needing that kind of investigation, such as boards of education in Clayton and Warren counties.

The Presidential campaigns are working to turn out their voters, according to the AJC.

The presidential race in Georgia between Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump is essentially tied, according to multiple state surveys.

The bulk of the efforts come from a standard campaign playbook — phone banks, door knocking and rallies. But for both Democrats and Republicans, some of that electoral outreach looks a little different this cycle.

As the campaign enters the final stretch, Trump’s team is working to excite their base of supporters, not flipping skeptical independents.

They have been short on celebrities and relied more on visits from supporters popular among the hard right. In early October, U.S. Reps. Marjorie Taylor Greene of Rome and Matt Gaetz of Florida headlined a Trump bus tour throughout the state. Trump himself will swoop into the state on Tuesday for a rally in Cobb County.

But Trump is not the focus of the formidable grassroots turnout operation built by Brian Kemp during his two terms as governor.

Kemp — who has been in an on-again, off-again feud with Trump — has been mostly focusing on swing legislative districts, spending roughly $2 million on six competitive races across metro Atlanta, said Cody Hall, his senior political adviser. They could ramp up more outreach activities as November nears.

In a new twist this year, Trump’s team is also targeting so-called low-propensity voters, a spokesperson for the campaign confirmed. Those are voters who may back Trump but rarely go to the polls.

For Democrats, in-person door-knocking was curbed in 2020, during the pandemic, but now, both the Harris campaign and its local partners have organizers hitting the pavement every day to both persuade undecided voters — a recent poll from The Atlanta Journal-Constitution found that 7% of voters said they had not made up their minds — and turn out likely Democratic voters.

They’ve also been attempting to make inroads in deeply-Republican held areas throughout South Georgia, with visits from Harris and former President Bill Clinton this week.

“It is literally possible that the whole election can be decided here. There are seven states where the election is too close to call. We could win them all — and we can lose them all,” Clinton said at a stop in Columbus Monday.

Georgia State Election Board Chair John Fervier is not amused with his colleagues’ actions, according to the AJC.

“Our job is to clarify law, not create new law,” John Fervier, who was appointed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp, said in an exclusive interview with The Atlanta Journal-Constitution. “This doesn’t need to be an activist board. This board needs to stay within its boundaries.”

The three Republicans ― a majority bloc Trump called “pit bulls” ― haven’t shied away from changing election procedures when they see fit. The board has passed nine rules since this summer in advance of the presidential election.

“John is a lot more risk averse than I am, and so I understand that he would rather not rock the boat,” said Janelle King, the swing vote on the board since her appointment in May by House Speaker Jon Burns. “I’m OK with rocking the boat if it’s going to lead toward success.”

Fervier, a Waffle House executive who describes himself as a traditional conservative, said his role as the board’s chair has been undermined at times by the Trump-aligned Republican faction.

“We all represent every voter in Georgia, and we should act like that,” he said. “This hyperpartisanship doesn’t serve anybody, and it certainly doesn’t serve this board. And I think it creates dissension.”

Often outvoted by his Republican peers, Fervier said the new hand-counting rule could delay results until early morning hours as bleary-eyed poll workers try to make their manual counts match, fueling voters’ skepticism. The hand review would count ballots but not votes.

Fervier criticized public attacks among board members, such as when King confronted board member Sara Tindall Ghazal, who was appointed by the Democratic Party of Georgia, for saying on MSNBC that her Republican colleagues have “some other motive” in passing last-minute rules.

Ghazal said the hand count is “setting counties up for failure.” King had accused Ghazal at the meeting of “creating a conspiracy” and fostering a media narrative that characterizes Republican board members as “MAGA right-wing extremists.”

Fervier said he’s confident county election officials will run a free, fair and honest election this year — and he hopes the State Election Board gets back to its job of reviewing investigations and passing rules that comply with state laws.

Democratic Hancock County Sheriff Sheriff Tomlyn Primus and Republican challenger Frank Meeks meet in the General Election on November 5, 2024, according to 13WMAZ.

13WMAZ sat down with one of the candidates in the race for Hancock County sheriff: Frank Meeks. 13WMAZ reporters also reached out to the incumbent Sheriff Tomlyn Primus for an interview, though he never responded to our request

In a separate sit down interview, Meeks spoke on three issues related to the race for sheriff: mental health, transparency in the department, and community trust.

How should the Sheriff’s department handle calls where an individual is experiencing a mental health crisis?

Frank Meeks: “We think we can implement a mental health officer in some form or fashion, whether it’s a doctor on call. Look, we might have a mental health crisis and we need you on-site. You know, our deputies, can get extra training, but we have to go into this and approach it with empathy and respect to people.”

How will you ensure the department builds and maintains community trust?

Frank Meeks: ”I’m thinking outreach programs or intervention programs. I’d like to see something done with the drug intervention and alcohol intervention. We have a jail out here that’s on the verge of falling in. So, we can take part of that jail and turn it into some sort of a program center.”

Sapelo Island Gullah Geechee descendants appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court a lower court decision stopping the referendum to undo a local zoning ordinance, according to The Current GA.

Attorneys for Barbara Bailey, Christopher Bailey, and Stanley Walker last week filed a notice of appeal of the Sept. 25, 2024, order that stopped the already in-progress special election about a controversial zoning decision on Sapelo Island. The stop-the-vote order came after more than 800 McIntosh County residents had cast ballots in early voting.

Sapelo’s Hogg Hummock area is inhabited by descendants of enslaved West Africans and is the last Gullah Geechee community on a Georgia barrier island. Zoning approved in September 2023 allows bigger, taller houses, which residents fear will force out Sapelo descendants in favor of wealthy developers. ​

After the zoning passed, more than 2,300 of the county’s registered voters signed a petition calling for the referendum. Probate Judge Harold Webster in July approved the petition and instructed the Board of Elections to move forward with the special election. But on the same day, the McIntosh County Board of Commissioners, who had approved the controversial zoning change, challenged the validity of the election.

Superior Court Senior Judge Gary C. McCorvey agreed with the county that the Georgia Constitution’s home rule referendum provision can’t be used to undo zoning ordinances.

Walker and the Baileys are able to appeal because they intervened in support of the probate judge and his decision to proceed with the referendum. Attorneys Dana Braun and Philip Thompson of the Savannah firm Ellis Painter represent them.

“Appeal to the Supreme Court is appropriate as this appeal arises in a case involving the construction of the Constitution of the State of Georgia and thus the Supreme Court’s exclusive appellate jurisdiction,” the attorneys wrote in their notice of appeal. “In particular, this case concerns the construction and application of the Home Rule for Counties and Municipalities section of the Georgia Constitution and whether the Court properly determined that McIntosh County’s zoning ordinances are not subject to the Home Rule section’s referendum provision.”

Further down the coast, Camden County residents used the home rule referendum provision in 2022, in their case to revoke a county decision to buy land for a proposed spaceport. As in McIntosh, the Camden County Commission tried repeatedly to block its citizens’ votes.

In a unanimous decision in February 2023, the state high court affirmed “Georgians’ constitutional petition-and-referendum power to veto legislative decisions by their county commissioners that go against the will of the people they were elected to represent,” the UGA First Amendment Clinic wrote at the time.

It’s unclear if halting the McIntosh referendum after voting began is a first in Georgia’s voting history. It’s unlikely to have happened before the state instituted early in-person voting in 2008, Braun said.

Charles Bullock, an expert on Georgia politics, said he couldn’t remember an election being called off after voting began. Even if the petitioners prevail in their appeal, it won’t be the same election, coming at a different time and possibly with other issues on the ballot, he said.

“They’ve changed the dynamics of it, if it gets rescheduled at all,” said Bullock, Richard B. Russell Professor of Political Science at the University of Georgia School of Public and International Affairs.

Glynn County Commissioners voted to pay $5834 per month for a prosecutor in juvenile court, according to The Brunswick News.

The Glynn County Commission agreed at its Oct. 3 meeting to enter into an agreement with Coastal Law Group to have attorney George Barnhill Jr. take over the part-time duties of representing the state in juvenile cases after Brunswick Judicial Circuit District Attorney Keith Higgins said he would no longer be able to provide it staff after September, citing expense and limited workforce as his reasons.

The resolution passed Oct. 3 is for prosecutorial services from Oct. 1 to June 30, 2024.

Federal, state, and local officials discussed dealing with threats against schools, according to WTOC.

“These threats… whether they are social media, or called in, wherever they come from, they cause a disruption in schools,” said Arron Graves, deputy chief of police, SCCPSS Board of Education police.

“I don’t know that we can explain that,” said Sean Burke, assistant special agent in charge, FBI Atlanta. “You’d think after a time of tragedy that receives national attention, that everyone would be focused on the victims, the school, teachers, parents. Why someone would capitalize on that and add additional threats to communities… unfortunately that seems to be a bit of a trend.”

Right here at Savannah-Chatham County Public Schools the Board of Education Police investigated nearly 30 threats throughout the rest of September. 17 of them stemming from social media posts resulting in two arrests.

“We don’t treat it like a joke,“ said Graves. ”A joke becomes a serious problem, it turns into a charge. It could be a charge of terroristic threats.”

“We try to identify the location or jurisdiction where the tip may have come from, whether that be a school, or an individual that we can identify, and we pass that off to the jurisdiction who investigates those to the best of their abilities,” said Rocky Bigham, Georgia Information Sharing and Analysis Center. “Most of the time, they’re able to actually go knock on the door of an individual who posted some of those threats.”

“If it gets investigated and gets charged at the state, local, or the federal level, the consequences for that individual whether they meant it or not, are very significant,” said Burke. “It can follow them to future jobs, and career decisions.”

“Pay attention to your child,” said Graves. “If you notice they’re spending a lot more time on the internet, on their phones, ask the question. They may give you an answer, they may not. But ask.”

The Tift County Board of Education lauded staff and faculty who responded to threats and hurricane damage, according to the Tifton Gazette.

A large collection of Tift County Schools employees received Beyond the T Awards at the Oct. 10 Board of Education meeting as congratulations to their quick response to incidents going on at schools in the county or the greater community in recent weeks.

Tift County Schools chief information officer Dana Spurlin offered praise to the staff who came to the aid of Eighth Street Middle School Sept. 23, after the school had received a threat of a school shooting occurring. In response to the threat, many parents had decided to check their children out of school, but had done so in such magnitude the school was unable to easily handle the process.

Lastly, board members offered as much gratitude as they could muster to the school’s nutrition team, which, in the aftermath of Hurricane Helene, had been working overtime to prepare meals for the students of Tift County.

Spurlin proudly reported that the team had prepped just over 16,000 meals for their students, worked to consolidate their supplies into two staging sites, and ensured every county student received a hot meal.

The Georgia Senate Safe Firearm Storage Study Committee heard about how to promote safe storage of guns, according to the Capitol Beat News Service via the Tifton Gazette.

Republican state Rep. Steve Eliason of Utah and Kathy Martinez-Prather, director of the Texas School Safety Center, testified before the Georgia Senate Safe Firearm Storage Study Committee about steps they’ve taken in their states to encourage gun owners to lock up their firearms without imposing mandates.

“Safe storage is low-hanging fruit … one of the easiest things we can do,” said Volkan Topalli, a professor in the Department of Criminal Justice & Criminology at Georgia State University, who appeared with the out-of-state witnesses at a hearing Oct. 10. “Safe storage is not opposing Second Amendment rights.”

The Georgia Senate created the study committee back in March, but the issue of safe firearms storage took on greater urgency last month when two students and two teachers were shot to death at Apalachee High School near Winder.

The mass shooting at Apalachee High School was among 11 gun-related incidents that have occurred on school grounds in Georgia this year, second-most in the country, according to Everytown for Gun Safety, the largest gun-violence prevention organization in the nation.

Eliason said the Utah legislature has passed a series of bills aimed at safe firearm storage with strong bipartisan majorities going back to 2013.

The Utah measures have used a variety of approaches. Under some of the bills, the state has bought and distributed trigger locks and biometric gun safes. Others have established tip lines that allow callers aware that a student may be planning a school attack to notify authorities.

“They’re preventable when communities detect early warning signs and intervene,” Eliason said.

Utah’s school safety legislation also includes a mental health component. A School Safety Crisis Line lets students who feel they may become a threat to themselves or others contact someone who can help.

Another bill Utah lawmakers have passed allows people suffering mental health issues to put their name on a restricted list so they can’t buy firearms for whatever period of time they feel they need.

“Preventing access to firearms and getting mental health treatment go hand in hand,” Eliason said. “If you’re not focusing on both, you’re not getting to the root of the issue.”

Eliason said the key to Utah’s approach to safe firearm storage is that it’s voluntary. Since it doesn’t involve mandates, the state’s gun lobby has supported the bills, he said.

Georgia Sen. Emanuel Jones, D-Decatur, the study committee’s chairman, said he was impressed with the Texas firearm safety program and may propose something similar for Georgia. The panel is due to make recommendations, including any legislation it might introduce, before the General Assembly convenes for the 2025 session in January.

Baldwin City Council will hold their second required public meeting to discuss a proposed property tax millage rate hike, according to Now Habersham.

The Baldwin city council will hold its second millage rate public hearing during its regular meeting on Tuesday, October 15. The council held the first public hearing for the proposed millage rate increase during its work session on Tuesday, October 8.

The city is considering a millage rate increase of .689 mill increase. During the budget process, it was recommended that the millage rate increase by 1.1 mills. After a review of budget documents, the city reduced the increase.