Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections for October 8, 2024

The Chicago Fire began on October 8, 1871. A completely different kind of Chicago Fire is underway now.

On October 8, 1895, the Liberty Bell arrived in Atlanta for the Cotton States Exposition.

The famously–cracked 2,000 pound pealer left Philadelphia on seven trips between 1885 and 1915. Each time it came home with more cracks. It turned out the men hired to guard the Bell were taking liberties, literally: chipping off pieces and selling them as souvenirs.

Cheering crowds greeted the Bell in Atlanta. A two–mile parade took it to Piedmont Park, where 50,000 people lined up to see it.

Polling released on October 8, 1976 indicated that Democrat Jimmy Carter won the second debate against President Gerald Ford by a 50-27 margin.

On October 8, 1981, former Presidents Nixon, Ford, and Carter visited with President Ronald Reagan at the White House before heading to Egypt to represent the United States at the funeral of assassinated Egyptian President Anwar Sadat.

Long-time Atlanta Braves pitcher Phil Niekro won his 300th game on October 8, 1984, though he wore Yankees pinstripes for that game.

The first C-5A airplane arrived at Robins Air Force Base on October 8, 1997.

On October 8, 1998, the United States House of Representatives voted 258-176 to authorize an impeachment inquiry against President Bill Clinton.

Georgia Politics, Campaigns, and Elections

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled the “Heartbeat Bill” abortion ban is enforceable for now, according to the New York Times.

The Georgia Supreme Court reinstated on Monday a state law that prohibits abortions beyond six weeks of pregnancy while it considers an appeal to a lower-court decision that had briefly allowed greater access to the procedure.

The law, called the Living Infants Fairness and Equality Act, or the LIFE Act, was set to take effect again at 5 p.m. on Monday.

Six of the justices agreed in full with the majority ruling, and another only in part. One justice did not participate and another had been disqualified from participating in the case.

When the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022, states were left to regulate the rules around abortion. Since then, about 20 states have banned or restricted the procedure, effectively ending the practice in the South. Many lawsuits have been filed to challenge those new standards.

On Sept. 30, Judge Robert C.I. McBurney of the Fulton County Superior Court overturned the Georgia law because he found that it violated the State Constitution, which he wrote protected the rights of “a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her health care choices.”

The judge’s decision allowed the procedure to continue in Georgia up to 22 weeks of pregnancy, giving women in the state and across the South a short window during which they could obtain an abortion past six weeks. Many women do not even realize they are pregnant at six weeks.

Republican state officials were angered by the lower court’s decision, and moved to immediately appeal it.

“We commend the court for granting our request to allow the LIFE Act to once again take effect, and we will continue to defend the laws and the Constitution of the State of Georgia,” said Chris Carr, Georgia’s Republican attorney general.

On Monday, Justice John J. Ellington, who only partly agreed with the majority, wrote in a six-page dissent that the right course would have been to continue to suspend the six-week ban while the appeal was being considered.

“The state should not be in the business of enforcing laws that have been determined to violate fundamental rights guaranteed to millions of individuals under the Georgia Constitution,” he wrote.

Without providing explanation, the State Supreme Court left in place the lower court’s block on a separate provision that allows prosecutors to broadly obtain the medical records of women who have had abortions.

Monday’s ruling was the second time that the six-week ban had been reinstated by the State Supreme Court. In the first challenge to the law, the court rejected arguments made by doctors and advocacy groups that the act was void and unconstitutional when the state approved it before the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe.

The court, however, sent the case back to a lower court on the question of whether the State Constitution protected a right to privacy, and whether that right encompassed abortion, which Judge McBurney decided on in late September.

Abortion providers said they would maintain their challenge to the six-week ban.

From the Savannah Morning News:

The Georgia Supreme Court has temporarily reinstated a 6-week abortion ban across the state effective one week after a state court overturned the law, declaring it unconstitutional in a 26-page opinion that compared the state’s abortion ban to the Handmaid’s Tale.

When the six-week abortion ban was overturned on Sept. 30, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr immediately appealed the ruling, and filed an emergency motion requesting that the state supreme court reinstate the LIFE Act while the justices considered the case. The court’s ruling today granted that injunction, temporarily preventing the lower court’s ruling from taking effect.

From the Associated Press via WSAV:

The high court’s order came a week after a judge found that Georgia unconstitutionally prohibits abortions beyond about six weeks of pregnancy, often before women realize they’re pregnant. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert McBurney ruled Sept. 30 that privacy rights under Georgia’s state constitution include the right to make personal healthcare decisions.

The state Supreme Court put McBurney’s ruling on hold at the request of Republican state Attorney General Chris Carr, whose office is appealing the judge’s decision.

In a dissenting opinion, Justice John J. Ellington argued that questions about the constitutionality of the ban “should not be predetermined in the State’s favor before the appeal is even docketed.”

Claire Bartlett, executive director of the Georgia Life Alliance, called high court’s decision “appropriate,” fearing that without it, women from other states would begin coming to Georgia for surgical abortions.

“There’s no there’s no right to privacy in the abortion process because there’s another individual involved,” Bartlett said. She added: “It goes back to protecting those who are the most vulnerable and can’t speak for themselves.”

Georgia’s law, signed by Republican Brian Kemp in 2019, was one of a wave of restrictive abortion measures that took effect in Republican-controlled states after the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022 and ended a national right to abortion. It prohibited most abortions once a “detectable human heartbeat” was present. At around six weeks into a pregnancy, cardiac activity can be detected by ultrasound in an embryo’s cells that will eventually become the heart.

The Georgia Supreme Court’s one-page order Monday exempted one specific provision of the state’s abortion law from being reinstated.

With no explanation, the court said the state can’t enforce a subsection of the law that reads: “Health records shall be available to the district attorney of the judicial circuit in which the act of abortion occurs or the woman upon whom an abortion is performed resides.”

McBurney wrote in his ruling that “liberty in Georgia includes in its meaning, in its protections, and in its bundle of rights the power of a woman to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices.”

“When a fetus growing inside a woman reaches viability, when society can assume care and responsibility for that separate life, then — and only then — may society intervene,” McBurney wrote.

The judge’s decision rolled back abortion limits in Georgia to a prior law allowing abortions until viability, roughly 22 to 24 weeks into a pregnancy.

From Atlanta News First via WTOC:

The issue of abortion and reproductive rights is a crucial issue in Georgia’s electoral and social scenes. Gov. Brian Kemp and the Republican Party continue to advocate for abortion restrictions, while Vice President Kamala Harris has made the issue central to her historic Democratic presidential campaign.

In a statement, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr said: “We commend the Court for granting our request to allow the LIFE Act to once again take effect, and we will continue to defend the laws and the Constitution of the State of Georgia.”

Georgia’s law was passed by state lawmakers and signed by Republican Gov. Brian Kemp in 2019 but had been blocked from taking effect until the U.S. Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, which had protected the right to an abortion for nearly 50 years. The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals allowed Georgia to begin enforcing its abortion law just over three weeks after the high court’s decision in June 2022.

A legal consideration known as “void ab initio” dictates lawmakers can’t pass an unconstitutional law, knowingly or unknowingly, even if it later becomes constitutional. That’s the consideration McBurney used to put a hold on the ban almost a year ago. The state Supreme Court reinstated the ban while the case worked its way through the legal system.

From the Capitol Beat News Service via the Moultrie Observer:

Six of the nine justices on the state Supreme Court ruled in favor of staying last week’s lower court decision. Justices Nels S.D. Peterson and Andrew Pinson did not participate.

Justice John Ellington concurred in part and dissented in part. In Monday’s seven-page ruling, Ellington wrote that he saw no urgency for the high court to act while the underlying merits of the case have yet to be decided.

From the AJC:

Six of the state’s high court’s justices concurred with the decision to stay McBurney’s ruling and reinstate the state law for now. Justice John Ellington disagreed with allowing the law to be enforced. Presiding Justice Nels Peterson was disqualified, and Justice Andrew Pinson did not participate.

Monday’s ruling comes after the state Supreme Court last year reversed a 2022 ruling from McBurney in which he said the 2019 law had been passed illegally since Roe v. Wade was the law of the land at the time. The law was stricken from the books for eight days in November 2022 until, as it did this year, the Supreme Court reinstated the restrictions while the appeal was heard.

That sent the case last November back to McBurney, who was asked to rule on the constitutionality of the law, which he did last week.

The attorney general’s office has yet to file its full appeal with the Supreme Court. It filed an intent to appeal last week. It’s unclear when the appeal could be argued before the Supreme Court.

From the Albany Herald:

“There is nothing legally private about ending the life of an unborn child,” the court filing read.

In southwest Georgia, there is a high maternal mortality rate of about 40 deaths per 100,000 live births. For black women, there were about 49 pregnancy-related deaths per 100,000 live births in the state from 2018 to 2020 according to the state Department of Public Health.

Dr. Karen Kinsell, the owner of Clay County Medical Center, said the nearest place to have a baby from where she’s located in Ft. Gaines is about 60 miles away in Albany.

The closest place southwest Georgians can receive abortion care is in Columbus at Columbus Women’s Health Organization or in Tallahassee, Fla. Kinsell said many of the pregnant people she serves have to travel for obstetrics care.

She said very few women realize they’re pregnant before five or six weeks. Having to travel far distances for abortion care thus creates an even greater challenge.

“They don’t have the time, the money or the wherewithal to get to a place where they could go ahead and get the care they need,” she said.

Since Georgia’s six-week ban was established, Kinsell said she’s seen more people come to her medical center seeking out termination information, knowing they were too late to have care in Georgia. She’s had clients travel out of state as far as Chicago for an abortion. She said she’s had more conversations with clients about contraceptive care as well.

“Kind of reminding them that you don’t really have as many options as you had before,” Kinsell said. “So it’s important that if you don’t want pregnancy, that you take effective measures to prevent it.”

The Georgia Right to Life organization supported the attorney general’s appeal. The anti-abortion nonprofit has chapters across the state, including in Albany. Genevieve Wilson, the director of chapter development called McBurney’s decision “a tragedy” in a written statement to The Albany Herald.

“All these rulings and bills do nothing but continue to ratify the killing of innocent lives,” she wrote. “No matter how abortion is packaged, advertised or marketed, it is still murder.”

Wilson wrote that abortion is “especially cruel to the black community,” with the CDC reporting that 32% of all abortions are performed on black women.

From State Affairs:

“Today’s decision by the Supreme Court is very good news,” Claire Bartlett, executive director of Georgia Life Alliance, told State Affairs. “But also it’s not surprising because when [Fulton County Superior Court Judge Robert] McBurney’s original order came through, we didn’t think his ruling was based in reality or law.”

House Bill 481, which bans abortion once a fetal heartbeat is detected, was passed in 2019 and went into effect in July 2022. The bill is also known as the Living Infants Fairness and Equality, or LIFE Act.

State Rep. Lauren Daniel, R-Locust Grove, commended Monday’s Supreme Court decision.

She held a news conference last week with U.S. Rep. Rich McCormick, R-Ga., and state Sen. Ed Setzler, R-Acworth, about the “heartbeat bill.” Setzler was the lead sponsor of HB 481 when he was in the state House.

“The politically motivated rhetoric surrounding this issue is directly responsible for women hesitating to seek emergency care, and this behavior is inherently dangerous for all women in Georgia. My goal has always been to protect life by improving maternal and infant outcomes in Georgia,” Daniel said. “I commend Attorney General Chris Carr for appealing the decision to overturn Georgia’s LIFE Act and the Georgia Supreme Court for granting a stay while the courts further consider the measure.”

The Georgia Supreme Court also ruled against a lawsuit seeking to prevent elections for the new City of Mulberry, allowing the elections to proceed, according to AccessWDUN.

The Georgia Supreme Court ruled in a unanimous decision that the Mulberry City Council elections will proceed as scheduled in November.

The Supreme Court’s ruling said that if Stephen Hughes wants to continue his legal challenge of the City of Mulberry he can only challenge Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Tadia Whitmer’s standing ruling from nearly a month ago.

There are other lawsuits pending against the city, but as of now the inaugural city council elections are scheduled for Nov. 5.

Resident Stephen Hughes filed multiple suits attempting to stop both the vote to incorporate the city in May and to stop the first city council elections, which are scheduled to take place on November 5. Neither of those lawsuits succeeded, with the most recent being dismissed on standing by Gwinnett County Superior Court Judge Tadia Whitner.

Hughes has since filed an appeal to that decision on Wednesday, October 2 in the Supreme Court of Georgia. His complaint is, largely, based on the city charter not allowing the municipality to levy any additional property taxes, which Hughes claims violates the Georgia Constitution.

One party that supported Hughes in his September lawsuit was Gwinnett County. The county has since filed its own lawsuit on Tuesday, October 1 against both the state of Georgia and three state legislators who were appointed by Kemp to the Mulberry Transition Team to get the city operation until a city council can be elected.

Those legislators include Georgia House Majority Leader Chuck Efstration (R-Auburn), State Senator Clint Dixon (R-Buford) and State Representative Derrick McCollum (R-Chestnut Mountain).

The lawsuit, similar to ones filed by Hughes, is asking the court to strike down the State Senate bill that created Mulberry.

“Gwinnett County asks this Court to declare that Senate Bill 333, a local law that creates and serves as the Charter for the City of Mulberry, is unconstitutional and otherwise violative of general law,” the lawsuit says.

Meanwhile, days before Hughes and Gwinnett County filed their most recent suits, one of the candidates for Mulberry’s first city council elections, Harris Roth, filed a lawsuit in Gwinnett County Court asking to have the city’s charter declared unconstitutional.

Roth, whose campaign website says voted against the city’s creation in May, cited similar concerns to Hughes and Gwinnett County in his filing.

Former President Donald Trump will deliver the keynote address at a National Rifle Association meeting in Savannah later this month, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Former President Donald Trump will serve as the special guest keynote speaker at the National Rifle Association (NRA) event in Savannah at 5:30 p.m. on Oct. 22, according to a press release issued by Alexandra Bedner, an account associate for CRC Advisors.

The event, “Defend the 2nd,” will take place at the Savannah Convention Center at One International Drive. NRA members and gun owners will gather in support of Second Amendment rights, and attendees will hear from NRA leaders and gun rights champions about what the outcome of the November elections means for Constitutional freedoms, noted the press release.

The NRA event will mark the second time Trump visits Savannah in less than one month. At an 85-minute speech in Johnny Mercer Theatre on Sept. 24, Trump said he would bring about a “manufacturing renaissance” and promised strong tariffs on companies that manufacture overseas and want to import back to the U.S., as previously reported by the Savannah Morning News. Vice President Kamala Harris held a reproductive rights rally in the Savannah Civic Center in February and a rally at Enmarket Arena in late August.

Trump has the endorsement of the NRA Political Victory Fund for this election, noted the press release. The NRA Political Victory Fund is the NRA’s political action committee.

“This election is a pivotal one for America’s gun owners,” NRA Executive Vice President & CEO Doug Hamlin said. “Kamala Harris and her far-left allies have big plans to erode Second Amendment protections. Donald J. Trump has proven himself a fighter for Americans’ right to keep and bear arms.  We are excited to have him speak at our Defend the 2nd event and to support his return to the White House in January.”

The Team Trump Bus Tour across Georgia ran Friday through Sunday, including a stop in Columbus according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

Supporters begin arriving at the Columbus, Georgia, venue for the launch of the 3-day Team Trump Bus Tour with Georgia State Rep. Carmen Rice, U.S. House District 2 candidate Wayne Johnson, and U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst speaking.

U.S. Sen. Joni Ernst and other surrogates for former President Donald Trump visited Columbus Friday, encouraging supporters to vote as part of the “Team Trump Bus Tour” that has stops throughout Georgia this weekend.

The bus tour launched Friday with Columbus serving as the first stop with the campaign also planning to visit Macon and Athens. They will end the three-day tour at a Town Hall event in Gainesville on Sunday.

Georgia State Rep. Carmen Rice, who represents District 139, and a candidate to represent District 2 in the U.S. House, Wayne Johnson, joined Ernst in the tour’s stop at the Republican headquarters on Veterans Parkway.

During his speech, Johnson urged supporters to organize and get people out to vote.

“We need to take 10 friends and get them out to vote,” he said. “There are a lot people there (who) would vote for Trump. They would vote for me if they just go to the poll.”

Rice told supporters that she wanted to focus on policy, bringing up concerns with immigration and the military, two focal points for Trump in his run as the Republican nominee for president.

“President Donald J. Trump is out surveying damage because he knows and cares for our farmers,” Ernst said during her speech.

The Harris-Walz campaign held an event for black farmers in Byromville, according to WALB.

Over 100 Black farmers from across South Georgia went to Byromville for a community conversation held by the Harriz-Walz campaign on how Vice President Harris’ New Way Forward agenda will “lower costs for hardworking Georgians and help people across the peach state and the country get ahead — including farmers hit especially hard by Hurricane Helene,” according to a release.

“As a Black farmer and someone who has spent years working with farmers across the Southeast, I know firsthand the challenges we face every day. Farming is hard work—always has been—but being a Black farmer brings its own set of unique challenges,” said co-owner of Footprint Farms LaGrand Elliott.

The campaign was joined by State Senator Freddie Powell Sims, Vice Chairman of the Macon County Board of Commissioners Bob Melvin, and co-owner of Footprint Farms LaGrand Elliott on Monday, Oct. 7.

“When we go to vote, take someone with you. Early voting is about to start. Make a plan, get it done. You know it’s Kamala Harris and Governor Walz that will take us where we need to go as citizens. This did not happen overnight. This was hard work, blood, sweat, and tears,” said State Senator Freddie Powell Sims.

Georgia’s Secretary of State is working on some storm-related issues ahead of November’s General Election, according to WSAV.

Only 3 out of the 2400 polling precincts in the state have slight issues which the state is working on but hope to fix before early voting.

“There are only about a handful of offices for USPS that affect about 700 absentee ballots. We are working on those voters can pick them up from another post office or an alternate form or delivery,” said State Voting Implementation Manager, Gabe Sterling.

“There have been some requests for to move deadlines — so far there is no need to do that. Secondly, we have no legal authority to extend the registration deadline or the absentee request deadline,” said Sterling.

Early voting in Georgia starts Tuesday Oct. 15 and absentee ballots will go out this week.

From the Associated Press via WSAV:

Georgia’s top elections official said Monday that he doesn’t expect damage from Hurricane Helene to cause major disruptions in next month’s general election in the state.

“What has been on everyone’s mind is what will happen to elections,” Raffensperger said. “Good news: Absentee ballots are going out this week as scheduled, and early voting will start next Tuesday, on Oct. 15.”

Blake Evans, the elections director for the secretary of state’s office, said county election officials have been dealing with power and internet outages in some parts of the state. But he said emergency management officials have helped prioritize elections offices to make sure they get power restored, and by Monday there were “minimal, if any, power outages to election offices across the state.”

Election equipment testing and poll worker training was paused in some locations immediately after the storm tore through, but that activity has largely resumed, Evans said. County officials are still assessing the roughly 2,400 Election Day polling locations across the state, and at least three — one each in Columbia, Lowndes and Richmond counties — will have to be changed because of damage, he said, adding that updates will be posted on the secretary of state’s website.

Gabriel Sterling, chief operating officer in the secretary of state’s office, said that “a handful” of U.S. Postal Service offices remain closed in areas hard hit by the hurricane. It looks like just under 700 absentee ballots could be affected by that, and they’re working to either make it so people can pick up their ballots at another nearby post office or to arrange an alternative delivery method, Sterling said.

While absentee ballots are delivered to voters by mail, Sterling noted they don’t have to be returned by mail. He recommended returning absentee ballots to elections offices by hand to ensure that they arrive on time.

From the Savannah Morning News:

“I want every voter in Georgia to know: Every vote matters, because every voter matters,” Raffensperger said.

“We’ve seen so many instances of county election officials and registrars that have been working weekends, working nights to ensure that everything stays on schedule with the election calendar,” said Georgia Elections Director Blake Evans. “We’re very, very thankful for them and for that.”

As a result, the state will not be extending the Oct. 7 voter registration deadline, as states like South Carolina have done. Absentee ballots are also going out starting Oct. 7, and early voting will begin statewide on Oct. 15.

“What we’re dedicated to in this election especially is transparency and efficiency,” said Chief Operating Officer Gabe Sterling. “There have been some requests from some quarters that we need to extend deadlines. So far, we’ve seen no need to do that, which is a good thing. Secondarily, we have no legal authority to extend the registration deadline or the absentee request deadline.”

Even in the most hard-hit corners of the state, damage to offices and voting equipment from the storm was minimal, according to the secretary of state’s office, allowing elections to proceed without delay. Of the state’s 2,400 in-person polling places, only three are being relocated due to storm damage, Sterling said.

In Augusta, one of the hardest-hit areas in Georgia following Hurricane Helene, election officials in both Richmond and Columbia counties are still working on assessing all polling locations. However, elections directors in both counties say they are on schedule to complete all election-related tasks on time, and do not anticipate any delays for voters.

A Bryan County resident challenged the voting eligibility of 850 registered voters, according to WSAV.

One woman recently submitted the names of over 850 people in Bryan County she said should be taken off the voter registration rolls.

It’s all because of a state statute, O.C.G.A. § 21-2-229, that allows a registered voter to question another person’s qualifications.

A hearing will be held on Thursday at 4 p.m. at the Richmond Hill Administrative Complex where the electors can submit evidence of their qualifications.

“They’re just taking all 859 challenges and expecting us to show up at this meeting house at the same time, which is just ridiculous,” said Tony Sconzo, a Richmond Hill voter who was challenged. “I just think it’s voter suppression and I think it needs to be stopped.”

Sconzo said his wife and her mother, who live with him, all received the same letter from County Attorney Aaron Kappler.

“My first thought — they’re challenging me? I can’t vote? They’ll take my voting privileges away?” Sconzo said, adding, “So my immediate concern was, who is sending this?”

To file a challenge, an individual must be from the same county or municipality as the voter they are challenging.

The challenge must be in writing and “specify distinctly the grounds of such challenge” to the county’s election board.

There is no limit on the number of challenges.

Jordan Given, the chairman of the Bryan County Republican Party, says this law is meant to maintain election integrity. But he says he is surprised this action is being taken almost a month out from Election Day.

“Our initial reaction was kind of confusion as to why so late in the game that we are having individuals in Bryan County receive these letters,” Given said.

According to Kappler, it doesn’t appear that the challenger focused on one political party.

The Georgia State Election Board will consider how eight county election boards handled eligibility challenges, according to the AJC.

Initial findings of an investigation into how eight Georgia counties handled Republican challenges against voters’ eligibility will be discussed Tuesday by the State Election Board during its final scheduled meeting of 2024.

The board ordered the inquiry last month in response to complaints from Republican activists that county election boards — most of them controlled by Democrats — had since July 1 dismissed over 45,000 of their challenges of voters who they believe might have moved.

The board’s executive director, Mike Coan, is scheduled to present a report on voter challenge complaints, according to the meeting agenda. He is investigating Athens-Clarke, Bibb, Cobb, DeKalb, Forsyth, Fulton, Gwinnett and Jackson counties.

In addition, the State Election Board is reviewing two dozen investigations Tuesday, including allegations of repeat voting, illegal campaigning and out-of-state voting.

The board has the power to impose fines, issue reprimands and refer cases to the attorney general or district attorneys.

But the State Election Board hasn’t provided guidance for counties on handling eligibility challenges, according to the AJC.

The board could issue guidance on how counties should handle voter challenges, but it has no authority to change a county’s ruling on a particular challenge, Gwinnett Elections Director Zach Manifold said.
Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger opted not use his office to investigate counties’ procedures for handling voter challenges. When asked about it, his spokesman, Robert Sinners, referred to Raffensperger’s descriptions of the board as “a mess.”

Sinners said Raffensperger also pointed to an opinion from the Georgia Attorney General’s office suggesting that the board appears to be exceeding its authority and its rule-making efforts could be conflicting with state laws.

State laws passed in the wake of former President Donald Trump’s defeat in the 2020 election have empowered activists to contest an unlimited number of voters within the same county.

But a majority of challenges are rejected by county boards. Election officials often say the challenges lack credible evidence to prove that the challenged voter moved to a new state or jurisdiction, died or broke some other rule making them ineligible to vote.

Coan said his preliminary findings suggest that some county boards are concerned they may get sued if certain challenges are upheld.

Bill Duffey, former State Election Board chairman, had said the board would provide guidance on voter challenge policies in 2024. But when he stepped down that promise went unfulfilled, Manifold said.

Manifold has asked for voter challenge guidance from the board for three years. Instead, at its last meeting the board called on its executive director to investigate election irregularities. Manifold said he is uncertain what the board can do or what it is looking for.

“I don’t know if it’s that they’ve gotten complaints and are trying to learn more about the process, because in a lot of ways, I don’t think they know a lot about voter challenges,” he said.

It is unclear how the board chose which counties it wanted to investigate. At least one of the eight counties — Athens-Clarke — received no voter challenges this year.

“The State Election Board has passed a bunch of rules, but the one rule they haven’t passed is anything related to voter challenges,” Manifold said.

Floyd County Superior Court Judge Walter J. Matthews issued an emergency tax collection order for the City of Dalton and Whitfield County after the Tax Commissioner refused to certify the tax digest, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

Matthews, a senior judge from the Superior Court of Floyd County, was assigned the matter in September after Whitfield County Superior Court judges recused themselves.

The order found:

— The 2024 Whitfield County tax digest has not been approved by the commissioner of the Georgia Department of Revenue.

— Based upon concerns raised by Whitfield County Tax Commissioner Danny Sane about the accuracy of the proposed 2024 tax digest, it is unlikely to be approved by the state until after the Department of Revenue conducts an audit requested by the county commissioners or until the Whitfield County Board of Assessors, which is currently without enough members to form a quorum, can be reconstituted and act on the matter.

— Based on testimony Monday by county Board of Commissioners Chairman Jevin Jensen and Dalton Mayor Annalee Sams, “unless this court authorizes the immediate, temporary collection of taxes, the governing authorities of the taxing entities in Whitfield County will be unable to maintain an orderly and normal function of local government business and government affairs.”

After the hearing, Jensen called the order a “win for taxpayers.”

The town of Cohutta and the city of Tunnel Hill do not collect a property tax.

Western Circuit District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez (D) settled a lawsuit involving posts removed from her Facebook account, according to the Athens Banner Herald.

A lawsuit filed against Western Circuit District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez that alleged a freedom of speech violation due to removal of posts on the DA’s Facebook pages was settled out of court Monday with different reactions by the parties.

The plaintiff, businessman Richard Miley, accepted the district attorney’s agreement to remove any bans on content and giving full access to her own and office social media pages for any user.

However, Gonzalez called the lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court a “politically motivated attack” that she was able to settle for $1.

But [plaintiff’s attorney Kevin] Epps said his client settled the lawsuit after she offered to admit she violated the U.S. Constitution.

“Mr. Miley did not bring this lawsuit for money, but to stand up to the illegal actions of Ms. Gonzalez,” he said.

The suit claimed Gonzalez, a public official, had censored Miley when she removed his comments.

Gonzalez is in the midst of a political race to retain the seat she won in the 2020 election. A Democrat, she is opposed in the Nov. 5 General Election by Kalki Yalamanchili, a former prosecutor in the Western Circuit, who is running as an independent candidate.

Chatham County Probate Judge Thomas Bordeaux is under fire for alleged failure to handle cases in a timely manner, according to the AJC.

A South Georgia judge faces 10 misconduct charges related to yearslong case delays that he says are embarrassing.

Chatham County Probate Judge Thomas Bordeaux, a former state representative who chaired the house judiciary committee, said he can’t timely rule on some cases, in part due to limited support staff. He said he also likes to take his time ensuring cases are properly handled.

The Georgia Judicial Qualifications Commission lodged formal charges against Bordeaux with the Georgia Supreme Court on Thursday, based on his handling of nine cases. In the worst instance of inaction, Bordeaux let a case languish without a ruling for more than seven years, the JQC said.

“Judge Bordeaux’s conduct … amounts to willful misconduct in office; a willful and persistent failure to perform the duties of office; and conduct prejudicial to the administration of justice which brings the judicial office into disrepute,” JQC Director Courtney Veal said in the charges.

Bordeaux, 70, was warned by the JQC about his failure to move cases in February and April, the agency said.

He has been the probate judge in Chatham County since January 2017. In May, he beat a challenger in the nonpartisan election for his seat.

Before taking the bench, Bordeaux was a Savannah alderman. He served in the Georgia House of Representatives for 16 years before quitting state politics in 2006. He has been an attorney since 1979.

Nearly 300 complaints of price gouging have been filed since Helene, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

The Georgia attorney general office said Monday it has received nearly 300 complaints statewide so far since the governor issued a special order in late last month to protect consumers from unfair price hikes on essential items to deal with the hurricane and its aftermath.

Of the 287 complaints filed with Attorney General, Chris Carr’s office 55 of them were made about businesses in Richmond County and 25 in neighboring Columbia County, according to department spokesman Shawn Conroy. Each of the accused businesses have received a notice letter about the allegations within days of the filed complaint, but no business has yet been fined, Conroy said.

The process can take weeks, he added. Penalties can range from $2,000 to $15,000 per violation.

“Prices can go up and down legally, so what we need to do is go through the complaint and do a full investigation,” Conroy said.

On Sept. 24, Governor Brian Kemp issued a State of Emergency for all of Georgia in preparation for Hurricane Helene. The temporary order was based on the state’s Price Gouging Statute, protecting the affordability of essential goods and services necessary for preparation, response, and recovery activities. That includes motor fuel, diesel fuel, and other petroleum products.

These special price gouging protections are in effect for two more days, until just before midnight Wednesday. (For context, Conroy said, Hurricane Katrina prompted thousands of gouging complaints, but he added that he expects the total for Helene to rise in the coming days.)

State Sen. Chuck Payne (R-Dalton) will read to children at eight schools to support literacy education, according to the Dalton Daily Citizen News.

Payne will engage with prekindergarten and elementary students by reading children’s books, emphasizing the importance of literacy and learning from a young age.

“Early education is where we lay the groundwork for our children’s future success,” said Payne. “By investing time and resources into our youngest learners we ensure they are prepared for future opportunities. Our state’s teachers play an integral role in developing Georgia’s youngest minds each and every day. It’s an honor to be able to join teachers and students in the classroom this week.”

Valdosta Mayor Scott Matheson spoke about Hurricane Helene’s impact on the city, according to the Ledger-Enquirer.

Prior to last year, Valdosta had never experienced a hurricane in its 166 years as a city, according to Mayor Scott Matheson.

Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson is keeping the city’s curfew in place, according to WRDW.

Augusta Mayor Garnett Johnson said Monday an overnight curfew will remain in place, although it may be re-evaluated in the middle of the week.

In originally imposing the curfew after Hurricane Helene, he said the city was very dark because electricity was out over about 95% of Augusta, making it hard to see road obstructions.

In keeping the curfew in place, he now justifies it by blaming the number of traffic signals still not working after Helene.

Late last week, the curfew was adjusted to 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. after several says of a curfew from 7 p.m. to 7 a.m.

The curfew was initially announced on Sept. 27 one minute ahead of when it was to begin.

Columbia County has also had a curfew but by Tuesday had eased it back to 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. It had originally been from 8 p.m. to 8 a.m.

The City of Valdosta lifted the curfew put in place after Hurricane Helene, according to the Valdosta Daily Times.

The curfew, which began Sept. 26, was extended more than once. It was meant to protect the community as well as essential workers, a statement from the city said Monday.

Valdosta Police Chief Leslie Manahan said, “We want to thank the residents of Valdosta for their patience and cooperation during this challenging time. Your adherence to the curfew allowed our essential workers to make significant progress in clearing roads and restoring services while ensuring the safety of everyone.”

“We are grateful for the tireless efforts of our power companies, public safety officers, and all essential workers during this recovery process. Though the curfew has been lifted, we ask residents to remain vigilant and prioritize safety as we complete these recovery efforts,” said City Manager Richard Hardy.

Valdosta Mayor Scott Matheson told the Ledger-Enquirer that Valdosta has one of the best emergency management responses in the country.

There were three deaths in Valdosta from the disaster: a young child and a mother who were trapped from debris and penetrated by a tree, and an older man who had a heart attack onset by stress, according to Matheson.

“A lot more injuries than Idalia,” Matheson said. “And more homes and cars were penetrated by trees.”

Matheson and the Emergency Management Agency of Lowndes County have worked around the clock to help people get food across five distribution centers, get uninsured residents help from FEMA, and help with tree removal.

In addition to the state of emergency declaration that Gov. Brian Kemp requested the day before the hurricane on Sept. 26, Lowndes County requested to be in a federal state of emergency, which would increase funding.

“We got 100% designation,” Matheson told the Ledger-Enquirer on Friday. “For 90 days (starting Sept. 24) every wear and tear … across this county, we’re expecting to get 100% reimbursement from federal and state government.

“The day after the storm, the president called me on the phone and told me they were working to get us the declaration.”

Between that call and the following Friday, Valdosta had visits from Kemp, FEMA, Sens. Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, former President Donald Trump, President Joe Biden, and Secretary of Agriculture Tom Vilsack to assess the damage and offer help.

One of the takeaways for Matheson is that three hurricanes in 13 months isn’t an anomaly anymore. He’s trying to find ways to help his city prepare.

“I now have to start thinking about a quarter or half-penny sales tax for disaster preparedness,” he said. “It’s something coastal cities do but given what Valdosta keeps going through I will think about adopting it.”

The Ledger-Enquirer asked if he would change tree ordinances given the amount of trees that fell through homes.

“Thirty-seven years ago we became a designated Tree City, thanks to the wife of a former Mayor,” he said. “She told me, jokingly, maybe that was a mistake.”

The City of Alma reinstated an earlier curfew, according to WTOC.

According to city of Alma officials, a county and city wide curfew has been reinstated for residents.

In a social media post officials say the curfew will start Monday, Oct. 7th and will continue until further notice.

The curfew is from the hours of 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. but does not include essential workers, essential businesses, and linemen.

Savannah-Chatham public schools will reopen the seven schools that had still been closed after Helene, according to the Savannah Morning News.

Bulloch County public schools reopened on Monday, according to WTOC.

Valdosta City schools are reopening this week, according to WALB.

Savannah City Manager Joseph A. Melder approved a waiver of permit fees for storm repair, according to WTOC.

The City of Savannah remains under a state of emergency which began on Sept. 25 and allows the government to activate the Emergency Operations Plan. Emergency services and government operations continue to respond as needed to impacted residents.

City Manager Joseph A. Melder has approved a measure under City Ordinance 3-3008 allowing the Development Services Department to waive all permit fees associated with work to repair damage resulting from Hurricane Helene. The fee waiver will be in effect from Oct. 1 through Nov. 1, 2024.

Residents and businesses in need of repairs caused by the severe weather event can apply for a permit fee waiver from the City in conjunction with a permit application for the work related to repairs. Specific qualifications for the wavier as well as the application, and other recovery resources, can be found at //savannahga.gov/helenerecovery.

Georgians who receive SNAP (Supplemental Nutrition Program) benefits will have longer to file claims due to Helene, according to the Moultrie Observer.

SNAP recipients residing in one of the below 61 counties affected by Hurricane Helene have until Oct. 25 to file forms requesting a replacement of food lost due to storm-related power outages. Recipients must have been without power for four or more hours to qualify.

SNAP recipients who live in Appling, Atkinson, Bacon, Ben Hill, Berrien, Bleckley, Brantley, Brooks, Bryan, Bulloch, Burke, Camden, Candler, Charlton, Chatham, Clinch, Coffee, Colquitt, Columbia, Cook, Dodge, Echols, Effingham, Elbert, Emanuel, Evans, Glascock, Glynn, Hancock, Irwin, Jeff Davis, Jefferson, Jenkins, Johnson, Lanier, Laurens, Liberty, Lincoln, Long, Lowndes, McDuffie, McIntosh, Montgomery, Pierce, Rabun, Richmond, Screven, Stephens, Taliaferro, Tattnall, Telfair, Tift, Toombs, Treutlen, Ware, Warren, Washington, Wayne, Wheeler, Wilcox, and Wilkes counties have until Oct. 25, 2024, to request replacement of their SNAP benefits.

The Georgia Department of Human Services’ (DHS) Division of Family & Children Services (DFCS) sought the deadline extension to help low-income families, many of whom were displaced from their homes for several days, feed their families as they recover from the storm.

The Georgia Department of Agriculture (GDA), the Georgia Foundation for Agriculture (GFA), and the Georgia Farm Bureau (GFB) launched a relief program for farmers, according to the Tifton Gazette.

The Weathered But Strong: Hurricane Relief Fund is a cross-industry initiative designed to assist Georgia’s farmers with recovery efforts, including damages to crops, livestock, and farm infrastructure, according to a press release from Georgia Farm Bureau. The campaign emphasizes resilience within the agricultural community and collaboration across the sector to ensure a strong recovery for the state’s farming community.

“The Weathered But Strong Hurricane Relief Fund is a perfect example of Georgians helping Georgians in their time of need, and we’re proud to work hand-in-hand with Georgia Foundation for Agriculture and all our industry partners to get much-need relief to our farmers and producers,” said state Agriculture Commissioner Tyler Harper. “The damage Helene caused to our agricultural community is devastating for farm families across our state, and I strongly encourage anyone who is able to donate, to do so through the Weathered But Strong Hurricane Relief Fund.”

The fund will help address essential needs by covering gaps left by other forms of assistance, for efforts like repairing fences, restoring livestock operations, rebuilding essential structures, and eventually providing financial aid to those impacted, the Farm Bureau press release said.

The Columbia County Sheriff’s Office reported a number of home invasions and thefts after Helene, according to the Augusta Chronicle.

Incident reports from the Columbia County Sheriff’s Office show there were at least six home burglaries related to Helene in the county from Sept. 27 through Oct. 6.

In one of the incidents, reported on Oct. 2 in Martinez, a tree hit a home on Merion Court during Hurricane Helene. While the family went to stay in Athens, someone entered the home through an unlocked window.

The family’s belongings were “rummaged through,” with clothing and personal items scattered around the bedroom, according to an incident report. A $1,100 watch was reportedly missing.

“We encourage everyone to keep their homes secure, with doors and windows locked,” said CCSO Maj. Steve Morris. “Consider an alarm if you don’t already have one, and get on the House Watch Program if you leave town.”

Democrats in the 11th Congressional District are tilting at windmills backing a write-in candidate against the party’s nominee, according to the AJC.

The woman who won the Democratic primary in Georgia’s 11th Congressional District no longer is the candidate that Democrats are supporting in the race.

Instead, Democrats have rallied behind a write-in candidate they believe aligns with the party’s ideals and platform. They are convinced that the person whose name is on the ballot, Katy Stamper, is a Republican who won the primary under false pretenses.

The party is sending text messages and emails and posting to social media to tell District 11 voters to write in the name of the person designated as the “real Democrat” in the race: Tracey Verhoeven.

“This is not about me running and my campaign. This is about us,” Verhoeven said in a recent interview. “And standing up and saying, ‘We’re not going to be cheated anymore.’ And now we have a voice where we wouldn’t have if I wasn’t running.”

The incumbent in the 11th Congressional District — which sprawls from Smyrna to Adairsville in northwest Georgia before arching east to Pickens County — is U.S. Rep. Barry Loudermilk, a Republican from Cassville and a heavy favorite to win a sixth term in Congress. The district was redrawn after the 2020 census to make it more conservative, meaning any Democrat is unlikely to win and especially one whose name isn’t even printed on ballots.

That hasn’t stopped local Democrats from rallying behind Verhoeven, who earlier this year ran for state Senate in hopes of competing against Republican incumbent Sen. Brandon Beach in the general election. She lost narrowly in the primary, but in the process earned some fans among local Democrats.

The party now says she is the official candidate and has the use of its resources, including the ability to campaign alongside other Democrats on the ballot.

Stamper never identified as a Democrat, even as she campaigned to win the Democratic primary. She says she is an independent.

State election rules don’t allow the political parties to pick and choose who runs under their banner on the ticket. Some Republicans have tried to change that in hopes of barring candidates they don’t believe are conservative enough from the ballot.

Stamper qualified as a Democrat and launched a website with mainstream viewpoints, such as wanting to save Social Security and reduce inflation. But she also said she did not think transgender women should be allowed to play sports or use the bathroom of their choice — talking points for many Republican candidates. Public records also indicated that Stamper, an attorney in Woodstock, has voted as a Republican repeatedly since 1994 and had donated consistently to Republican candidates since 2020.

A search of activity under her birth name, Karen Sacandy, which Stamper legally changed in 2019, showed that she previously was aligned with a Marietta-based anti-immigration hate group. The group’s website often linked to Sacandy’s activities, like a letter seeking information about the state’s Immigration Enforcement Review Board and a copy of a letter to the editor supporting legislation to prevent immigrants claiming asylum from obtaining driver’s licenses.

Local Democrats assumed Stamper didn’t have much of a chance to win the nomination, since the person who had won the primary in 2022, Antonio Daza, was on the ballot again. But on the night of the May election, Stamper emerged victorious, beating Daza 57% to 43%.

“Everybody was shocked when Antonio didn’t win,” Shaouy said. “So, that started to create some awareness.”

She said local party leaders in the district found their hands were tied legally; Stamper had won the primary and was their nominee.

Democrat Arthur Harris and Republican Matt Moulton are running for Houston County Sheriff in November, according to 13WMAZ.

This election cycle, we’re incorporating the results we gathered from the Listening Lab surveys Central Georgians filled out earlier in the year.

In Houston County, the top 5 issues participants pointed out were: inflation, violent crime, ethics in government, healthcare cost and access and immigration.

In separate sit down interviews, we discussed the three issues you said were most important to you when it comes to the sheriff’s race: violent crime, ethics in government and immigration.

What would you do to reduce violent crimes in Houston County?

Harris: I would put deputies back in neighborhoods, have them responsible over the neighborhood.

Moulton: I think we need to be getting our manpower back up. That will allow us to be more proactive in our policing and actually target the criminals that are out here committing the crime. Also, bringing education and awareness to the community giving them ideas of what they can look for how they can get in touch with us at the sheriff’s office.

What role do firearms play in Houston County crime and what needs to be done to address it?

Harris: I’ve learned through different reports about the car break-ins, where they go around breaking into cars to steal guns. I’ll start a program where the community will be more aware not to leave guns inside of a car. My main objection is to stop people out late at night in neighborhood breaking in cars.

Moulton: We have a group of individuals that’ll go around and break into the cars and steal the firearms out of the cars. Then, those firearms are later used in crimes here in Houston County. That goes back to education and awareness to people, reminding people to lock their cars and remove all valuables and firearms from their vehicles. According to a town hall held by the Warner Robins Police Department, that counts for about 70% of all firearm crimes here