Georgia
Fulton judges stay busy ruling on lawsuits spurred by new Georgia State Election Board rules • Georgia Recorder
A lawsuit filed by the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections seeks to prevent the State Election Board from appointing several election monitors for the Nov. 5 election.
In the lawsuit filed Tuesday, Fulton’s election board claims that the Georgia State Election Board is pressuring it to appoint multiple additional election monitors. The plaintiffs argue that the five-member state panel lacks the statutory authority to force the county to hire and pay for extra election monitors to add to the team it already appointed to oversee the 2024 election.
The lawsuit is one of several filed in recent weeks contesting the rules changes approved by three right-wing state election officials who support GOP presidential nominee Donald Trump.
On May 7, Fulton County was admonished by the panel that oversees how counties conduct elections and ordered a monitor for this year’s campaigns. The state board voted to reprimand Fulton and appoint an independent monitor for the 2024 election,accusing county officials of violating state law while conducting a recount of the 2020 presidential election.
President Joe Biden’s narrow 2020 election in Georgia was confirmed by multiple recounts and audits and withstood many court challenges.
Georgia secretary of state officials determined mistakes by county election workers would not have changed the outcome of the 2020 election but were unable to determine how many invalid ballots were included in the results used to certify the election.
According to the lawsuit, the State Election Board is pushing to force the Fulton election board to “capitulate” to the appointment of several additional state-appointed election monitors. A flurry of last-minute efforts are being made to drastically affect Nov. 5 general elections, according to the plaintiffs’ complaint.
The lawsuit alleges that Republican State Election Board Member Janice Johnston warned in October that the state board would have no choice but to “disavow” the county if it refused to hire additional election monitors.
Johnston emailed the Fulton election board chairman on Oct. 1 calling for the board to accept eight additional monitors.
Johnston and her two allies suggest that Fulton add Heather Honey, who previously worked with the Cyber Ninjas, a company that employed questionable audit practices of 2020 election results in Arizona. They also recommended Frank Ryan, who refused to certify election results in the past. Honey and Ryan distrust the results of the 2020 election
The Georgia Election Board voted Tuesday to reprimand Fulton County and appoint an independent monitor for the 2024 election for violating state law while conducting a recount of the 2020 presidential election. Democrat Joe Biden narrowly defeated GOP nominee Donald Trump by nearly 12,000 votes in Georgia for the 2020 presidential race.
In 2023, a Georgia election board with several different members rejected a state takeover of Fulton ballot counting following a lengthy performance review after the tumultuous 2020 presidential election spurred conspiracy theories and brought national attention to Georgia’s most populated county.
The independent panel’s report did not find any proof of election workers engaging in intentional misconduct but noted Fulton elections new leadership role is now resolving past problems with managerial oversight, disorganization and mistakes in recounting ballots.
Election Board ethics complaint dismissed
A Fulton County judge Wednesday dismissed a lawsuit filed by several Democratic public officials against Gov. Brian Kemp over his refusal to order ethics hearings for three Republican State Election Board members.
One of the state lawmakers behind the lawsuit vowed to appeal after the dismissal.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville said Wednesday that the lawsuit filed by three Democratic elected officials was insufficient to advance the case. Glaville said an official investigation into the State Election Board’s actions should have been conducted before the lawsuit was filed in September against GOP Gov. Brian Kemp.
In September, Democratic officials sued to remove the three Trump loyalists on the State Election Board for revising election rules and holding an illegal meeting. The board also includes a Democrat and chairman who have voted against several rules supported by the Trump loyalists.
In its lawsuit, the plaintiffs asked the Fulton court to order Kemp to hold a hearing to determine if three board members singled out for praise by Trump at an Atlanta rally violated ethics laws through pushing through new rules that undermine public trust prior to the Nov. 5 election.
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Georgia
Georgia parks and historical sites open to hurricane evacuees
FULTON COUNTY, Ga. – Thousands of Florida residents are fleeing to Georgia ahead of Hurricane Milton and hotels and motels are filling up.
Hurricane update: Milton remains powerful Category 4 storm ahead of Florida landfall
Traffic on Interstate 75 was heavy on Tuesday and Florida residents told FOX 5 Atlanta that they spent hours on the road trying to escape the state before Milton arrived.
Rest stops up and down Georgia highways were packed on Tuesday with families, including pets.
Florida residents arriving in Georgia ahead of Hurricane Milton
The evacuation has been further complicated by damage left behind by Hurricane Helene just two weeks ago.
Georgia officials are advising evacuees to avoid south Georgia and instead seek shelter in places like Albany, Columbus, Macon, and Atlanta.
On Tuesday evening, Georgia Emergency Management and Homeland Security Agency posted a warning on social media that lodging in Georgia was filling up quickly. According to GEMA, several hotels were already sold out or had very few rooms left.
On Wednesday morning, Georgia State Parks & Historic Sites shared a post saying many state parks that still have cottages and campsites available for those who have left Florida and are seeking refuge.
As of 8 a.m. Wednesday, Milton was once again classified as a Category 5 hurricane with maximum sustained winds of 175 mph. GEMA says that further strengthening is possible through tomorrow as it moves northeastward towards Florida. Although Milton is expected to weaken before making landfall, the wind field is also expected to expand, making it a much larger hurricane, which means its impacts will be felt even in south Georgia.
At this time, Milton is expected to make landfall near Tampa, Saint Petersburg and Sarasota on Wednesday evening.
As a result, the following Georgia counties could receive 2-6 inches of rainfall and tropical storm force winds of 40-50 mph: Camden, Glynn, McIntosh, Liberty, Bryan, Chatham, Charlton, Ware, Echols, Clinch, Brantley, Pierce, Wayne, Long, Appling, Bacon, Atkinson, Lanier, Lowndes, and Brooks. Flash flooding is possible where the heaviest rainfall occurs — likely in Camden, Glynn, McIntosh, Brantley, Charlton, and Ware Counties. Areas farther inland should receive less than 2 inches of rain and wind gusts should stay below 35 mph. The timing for impacts in Southeast Georgia (heavy rain and gusty winds) will be Wednesday afternoon through Thursday afternoon.
OTHER RECENT STORIES
Atlanta Motor Speedway has also opened an area for evacuees ahead of Hurricane Milton. Click here for more details.
Additionally, there are several shelters available. For an up-to-date list, click here.
Georgia
Rockdale County official dies after hearing on BioLab fire, Georgia House Democrats say
ATLANTA, Ga. (Atlanta News First) – A Rockdale County official died after giving testimony at a hearing on the BioLab chemical fire, according to the Georgia House Democratic Caucus.
The caucus said Rockdale Soil and Water Conservation District State Board Chairman Kenny Johnson “complained of shortness of breath and subsequently collapsed in the hallway” outside of the hearing. State Rep. Viola Davis, who is a nurse, administered CPR before professionals arrived. Johnson was taken to the hospital, where he later died.
The hearing was on the impact of the fire at the BioLab facility in Conyers on the surrounding community. The fire led to a huge hazardous plume appearing Rockdale County and other parts of metro Atlanta; it resulted in evacuation and shelter-in-place orders that are still in effect for some residents.
In a statement to Atlanta News First Monday, Johnson called the fire an “environmental disaster.”
Rep. Davis released a statement following Johnson’s death.
Copyright 2024 WANF. All rights reserved.
Georgia
Kirby Smart on the idea of Georgia wearing alternate jerseys: ‘I just think that’s hokey pokey’
ATHENS — The last time Georgia hosted Mississippi State, the Georgia Bulldogs came out in black jerseys. Georgia won that day 31-24, which took place back during the 2020 COVID season.
But based on what head coach Kirby Smart said on Tuesday night, don’t expect Georgia to repeat its outfit.
“I don’t think that has one thing to do with the fan base,” Smart said. “I just think that’s hokey pokey. I mean, it’s great for recruiting, and we may do it sometime. I mean, I’m not anti-doing it, but that shouldn’t do anything for your atmosphere.”
Georgia last wore an alternate jersey in the 2021 Peach Bowl win over Cincinnati. Georgia wore an alternate jerseys three times during the 2020 season.
But Georgia hasn’t worn an alternate jersey since then. The Bulldogs do have recruits wear things such as black jerseys and white helmets while on recruiting visits, but since the start of the 2021 season, Georgia has worn its traditional uniforms for home and road games.
“Some of the best places I’ve played, great atmosphere,” Smart said. “They never change their uniform, they’re traditionalist. If it takes changing the uniform to get people fired up, then I’m at the wrong place.”
There have been plenty of discussions around the game day atmosphere at Georgia following comments made by Smart this weekend, where Smart voiced his disappointment with the fan base.
Smart has stood by the comments that he made and stresses that Sanford Staidum is not some lingering issue but rather a recent problem.
“I said earlier last time about, we had coaches play here last year, said it was the greatest atmosphere they had ever been in,” Smart said. “And so for somebody to say that from outside, it’s not like it’s all wrong. It’s really relative to what time the game is and who the game is. But we can’t afford to do that. You know what I mean? We can’t do that.”
Part of Smart’s frustrations likely stems from the lack of juice in a rivalry game like Auburn. This weekend’s game could have a similar vibe as the Bulldogs are a 34-point favorite against Mississippi State.
But with recent upsets in college football and a spirited Tuesday practice that Smart praised as one of the best, he’s not worried about his team playing flat.
“We don’t rely on the motivation of others,” Smart said. “I got a great analogy. Somebody sent me and said, ‘if they’re doing a Netflix documentary on you this week, who would you want to watch it? And would they approve? Would you send it to your parents? Would you send it to an NFL team if they did a Netflix documentary on your performance and your pride, and how you practiced this week?’
“And I was shocked, they must all thought the Netflix documentary was on them today, because they practiced as good as they have ever done. So just give them a little attention, and they eat it up.”
Georgia’s game against Mississippi State is set for a 4:15 p.m. ET kickoff on the SEC Network.
Kirby Smart shoots down any idea of alternate uniforms for motivation
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