Cobb County election do-over could cost taxpayers $1.5M

The Cobb County Board of Elections is moving forward with plans for special elections for two County Commission seats next year after a judge ruled the May primaries must be redone.

The estimated cost for off-cycle primary, runoff and general elections for commission races in Districts 2 and 4 will exceed $1.5 million, elections director Tate Fall said this week. The elections board approved two possible schedules for the special elections, depending on whether the November general elections head to runoffs. In any case, the special elections will be wrapped up in or before June 2025.

But Cobb County is looking to overturn the judge’s ruling entirely. County attorneys this month filed motions to intervene in the lawsuit and are asking her to reconsider her ruling. A hearing is scheduled for Tuesday.

The Cobb County Commission map has been in question since 2022, when the board attempted to pass its own map in rebuke of Republican state lawmakers who bypassed traditional process and passed a map that drew Democratic Commissioner Jerica Richardson out of her district halfway through her term.

State lawmakers are typically understood to have redistricting authority, but the county drew its own map, arguing that home rule powers in the state constitution allowed them to do so. State officials and legal experts have heavily criticized the unprecedented move, and the county has faced multiple lawsuits over the map’s legitimacy.

Hill ruled in Cobb Superior Court in July that the county map was unconstitutional, siding in favor of plaintiff Alicia Adams, who had tried to qualify for office in March but was turned away because she does not live in the district under the county’s map.

County attorneys argue in filings that the judge cannot legally make the ruling she made under the type of cases brought forward, cannot address whether the map is constitutional within this case, and cannot retroactively throw out the May primary election.

The plaintiff’s attorney, Chuck Boring, and the Board of Elections Attorney Daniel White both criticized the county’s request to intervene in the case, and will likely press arguments against the motion in Tuesday’s hearing.

Several public commenters criticized the county’s actions at this week’s commission meeting, accusing the board of trying to “delay the process” of the map being thrown out for good.

“Another attempt to delay the inevitable about the constitutionality of the unconstitutional map,” said resident Tracy Stevenson. “This has been asked and answered.”

Some said Richardson should no longer be serving on the board after the judge’s ruling.

“It is very clear that Ms. Richardson should not be on the dais,” said resident Virginia Choate. “You are operating illegally.”

That is not completely clear. Attorneys have argued on both sides of the issue: some saying Richardson would have to vacate the seat immediately because she does not live in the map passed by the Legislature, while others say she would be allowed to stay through the end of her term.

The two Republicans on the board, who have repeatedly protested the board’s decision to pass its own map, reiterated their opposition to the county’s request to intervene in the lawsuit.

“This board has had many opportunities to accept the rulings ... but to date have preferred to follow the path of anarchy and ignored those rulings and opinions,” said Commissioner Keli Gambrill. “The legal department continues to advise the board to circumvent finality, and the board’s majority continues to follow a legally questionable path.”

Credit: arvin.temkar@ajc.com

Richardson and Chairwoman Lisa Cupid, both Democrats, defended the county’s motion and said they are seeking clarity on how the judge’s ruling impacts the county. They also pointed back to state lawmakers as the ones who have caused the entire situation by not adhering to the traditional process of consulting with local leaders and deferring to the majority of lawmakers who represent the county when redrawing district maps.

“This all started with something that broke protocol, which was bypassing the local state delegation, and now we have these other issues that everyone’s trying to figure out, including the county,” Richardson said to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Credit: Miguel Martinez

Cupid said the county is “truly seeking a path forward” to ensure the board can continue operating.

“We’re not here to circumvent the constitution,” Cupid said to the AJC. “I would like to think that citizens would want their leadership to fight for their integrity of their local elected body so that they can serve and govern as the citizens voted for them to do. That has been my dominant interest, and I felt as if the measures that were taken that undermined the integrity of the board inhibited our ability to be able to do that.”

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