Ruling: Cobb County must abide by state-drawn commission maps

(The Center Square) — Cobb County commissioners are expected to vote Tuesday on a measure that the board's District 2 seat "is deemed vacant" following a judge's ruling this week.

Last month, Superior Court Judge Kellie Hill ruled that the map of commission districts that county leaders created in October 2022 was unconstitutional and outside the home rule powers.

After the ruling, Cobb election officials said they would remove elections for the District 2 seat held by Jerica Richardson and the District 4 seat held by Monique Sheffield from November's general election. In a statement at the time, county officials indicated they would schedule a special primary and special election for the seats "to be held as soon as practicable" after the November election.

In March 2022, state lawmakers in the Republican-controlled Legislature created new Cobb County Commission maps, prompting the Democratic-controlled county commission to draw separate maps. The county used the state legislative map for the November 2022 election, and the county's map took effect in January 2023.

On March 22, Alicia Adams sued the Cobb County Board of Elections and Registration and others after being ruled ineligible to run for the District 2 seat based on the commission's map. Adams argued she would have qualified had county officials used the map state lawmakers adopted.

Earlier this month, the county, which was not a party to the lawsuit, filed motions to intervene and to reconsider, asking the judge to allow the county to make its case about why it is improper to order new elections in Districts 2 and 4 after voters have already cast ballots in a primary. This week, Hill rejected those arguments.

"I don't want to use the term disingenuous... but I do find it hard to believe that the county could not have foreseen or predicted the outcome that resulted in this case," 11 Alive quoted Hill as saying.

On Tuesday, Cobb commissioners are expected to formally adopt the state map. Richardson does not live in the district drawn by state lawmakers.

Last week, Georgia Attorney General Chris Carr's office filed a brief supporting the July 25 ruling.

"At its core, this lawsuit is about whether laws passed by the General Assembly prevail over conflicting laws passed by counties," the office said. "In those cases, the will of the General Assembly prevails.

"...The Attorney General continues to assert the importance of the issue raised in this litigation," the filing added. "This is a question of the legislative authority of the General Assembly and the State, and the fundamental right of the people to vote in the appropriate districts."

In May, the state's Supreme Court dismissed a separate attempt to invalidate the County Commission's map. However, the state's highest court did not "reach the merits of the constitutional arguments."