Georgia Lt. Gov. Burt Jones will not face criminal charges for his actions in the weeks after the 2020 election, including signing onto a slate of electors for former President Donald Trump after Joe Biden won Georgia’s electoral votes.

Three other so-called “fake electors” were indicted last August by a grand jury in Fulton County on criminal charges including racketeering. All three have pleaded not guilty. 

Early in the investigation, a judge barred District Attorney Fani Willis and her office from continuing to investigate or prosecute Jones after she held a fundraiser for his opponent in the race for lieutenant governor. Pete Skandalakis, executive director of the Prosecuting Attorneys’ Council of Georgia, ultimately took over the investigation into Jones, and on Friday decided against charges.

“I find Senator Jones’ involvement and actions during the times in question to be within the scope of his duties as a Senator to address the concerns of constituents and that his participation in voting as an alternate elector on Dec. 14, 2020 was a result of relying upon the advice of attorneys and legal scholars,” Skandalakis wrote. “Therefore, this case does not warrant further investigation or further actions, and I consider the matter closed.”

Four defendants have pleaded guilty in the Fulton County prosecution. A judge has quashed some of the charges, but 32 counts remain, including the bedrock racketeering charge. The case is mostly paused as an appeals court weighs whether Willis can remain on the case following misconduct allegations. Oral arguments are scheduled before a three-judge panel in December, with a decision not expected until next year.

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.

NICOSIA, Cyprus (AP) — Georgian coach Temur Ketsbaia lost his job with the Cyprus national team, the national federation said Friday, days after a 4-0 home loss against Kosovo in the UEFA Nations League.

The former Newcastle, Wolverhampton and AEK Athens player was in his third year with the Cyprus team now ranked No. 127 by FIFA, a drop of 20 places while he was in charge.

The president of the Cypriot football association, George Koumas, lauded Ketsbaia for his “professionalism, seriousness and proven love” for the national team after accepting in a meeting Friday that his departure is the “drastic change” that’s likely needed.

“His stance honors him and comes as no suprise to those who know him,” Koumas said in a written statement. “Unfortunately, neither Mr. Ketsbaia nor the Federation managed to achieve the wished-for results through this collaboration.”

Cyprus lost all eight games and finished last in its European Championship qualifying group last year, which included eventual title winner Spain, Scotland, Norway and his home country Georgia. Through his 20-game coaching term, Ketsbaia logged six wins, two draws and 13 losses with 19 goals for and 49 against.

Ketsbaia coached Georgia for five years though 2014, and later worked for AEK and Cypriot clubs APOEL and Anorthosis where he led the team to the Champions League group stage for the 2008-09 season — a first for any Cypriot side.

The Cyprus federation did not announce an interim coach to take over for Nations League games next month hosting Romania and the return game in Kosovo.

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AP soccer: https://apnews.com/hub/soccer

Georgians could have fewer choices for president when they go to vote this November after two Fulton County Superior Court judges reversed Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger’s decision and ruled independent candidate Cornel West and Claudia De la Cruz with the Party for Socialism and Liberation are not eligible to run for president in the state.

The Wednesday decision marks a win for the Democratic Party of Georgia, which filed suit to remove the candidates.

With early voting set to begin in just over a month, the judges ordered Raffensperger to post notices at polling places in cases where there is insufficient time to print new ballots.

Both candidates have vowed to appeal.

“Across the country, the Democratic Party is using the courts to wage an assault on democracy,” De la Cruz said in a statement. “They are backed by their billionaire friends, and super PACs like Clear Choice which have raised huge sums of money for the explicit goal of removing third party candidates. We will appeal this ruling. People in Georgia should have the right to vote for the candidate of their choice.”

Both West and De la Cruz have criticized the Democrat’s nominee Vice President Kamala Harris from her left and could conceivably attract votes from progressives who favor her over Republican former President Donald Trump, but dislike Harris’ economic policies or her backing of Israel’s military actions in Gaza, which inspired protests in college campuses across the nation, including in Georgia. In what is expected to be a close race, a small number of third-party votes lost to the independents could make a difference.

West’s campaign urged voters to support the third-party challenger despite the ruling.

“We are appealing this decision, which negates the basic democratic rights of the people of Georgia to vote for the candidate of their choice,” said Edwin DeJesus, a spokesperson for the West campaign. “We will not stand by as the democratic process is undermined. This ruling is a direct assault on the voters’ rights to choose their leaders, and we are fighting to ensure that every Georgian can vote for a candidate who truly represents their values and visions for the future.”

Neither the Democratic Party of Georgia nor the secretary of state’s office responded to requests for comment Thursday, but Raffensperger, a Republican, referenced the cases in a Twitter thread Tuesday.

“Partisan activists are attempting to tilt the scales of this election and I believe that is wrong. This election will be decided by Georgia’s voters and not political activists,” he wrote. “The law is clear, and these qualified candidates have a right to be on Georgia’s ballot, and I will fight for voters’ rights every day to choose the candidate for whom they want to elect.”

Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver and Green Party Candidate Jill Stein will appear on Georgia ballots – Oliver because Libertarians received a sufficient number of votes in the previous election, and Stein because she qualified under a new state law granting ballot access to candidates on the ballot in at least 20 other states. They will join the major party contenders, Trump and Harris, at the top of the ticket.

Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who was previously leading the third-party pack, though still far behind the major party frontrunners, dropped out of the race in late August and endorsed Trump.

A Quinnipiac poll conducted Sept. 4 through Sept. 8 found Trump leading in Georgia with 49% of the vote to Harris’ 45%, with West and De la Cruz both receiving about 1% of the vote each and neither Oliver nor Stein breaking 1%. The poll’s margin of error is 3.2%.

The poll was conducted prior to this week’s televised debate between Harris and Trump, which could be the only in-person face-off between the two major party candidates.