HOMER – The election challenge by former Georgia House District 28 Rep. Dan Gasaway continues in Banks County Superior Court.
On Monday, Gasaway’s case against the boards of elections and registration in Banks, Habersham and Stephens counties and against current House District 28 Rep. Chris Erwin began before Senior Judge David Sweat.
The case resumed Wednesday morning with Gasaway’s attorney Jake Evans questioning his expert witness, Mark Alan Davis, president of Data Productions in Suwanee, about the location of a number of voters named in the election challenge lawsuit.
Davis has been dealing with election data since 1986 and dealing with digital mapping for 18 to 20 years, he testified.
Gasaway’s lawsuit asserts Banks County Sheriff Carlton Speed and his family do not live within House District 28, yet all of Banks County is located within House District 28.
Davis remained on the stand until after 4:30 p.m. answering questions from Evans, Erwin’s attorney Brian Tyson, and Speed’s attorney Ken Stroud.
In one instance, Davis said he found certified records that show an Alto woman and man who live in the same house on Wheeler Street were until recently assigned to separate Georgia House districts.
“Two people, same house, two House districts,” Davis testified.
Other voters on Dan Waters Road near the Banks/Jackson county line were discussed for several hours. Residents at 565 and 619 Dan Waters Road are in Banks County, but residents at 725 Dan Waters Road voted in and paid taxes in Jackson County. All those voters are neighbors on the same side of the road, generally considered to be inside Banks County.
Davis testified he believed the residents at 725 Dan Waters Road were disenfranchised because they reside in House District 28 but weren’t offered the opportunity to vote in that district’s Dec. 4 Special Election because they are mis-assigned to House District 31.
“It’s a bit of a mess,” Davis said of the conflicting data he found for residents on the road.
“You mean Banks County may not be collecting property tax on some of these to which they’re entitled?” the judge asked.
“That’s exactly what I’m saying,” Davis said.
Davis added that some of the voting irregularities noted from the Dec. 4 House District 28 Special Election should have been corrected after the last lawsuit, in which Gasaway succeeded in getting Sweat to throw out before ordering the Dec. 4 election.
“I’m afraid that some people who were disenfranchised before may have been, by definition, disenfranchised again,” Davis said.
Davis testified that there are 291,086 Census blocks in the state of Georgia, and that by definition they don’t cross county lines.
Erwin’s and Speed’s attorney’s argued Davis is not a surveyor and that the Georgia Legislature defines county boundaries based on meets and bounds legal descriptions, and that the U.S. Census Bureau does not define county boundaries.
Davis did concede that any house located in Banks County is in House District 28.
Davis showed a map he produced of the intersection of House District 28 and House District 32, showing Speed’s house to be located in House District 32.
Also during his testimony, Davis said Federal Information Processing Standards, now known as Federal Information Processing Series (FIPS) codes, place the Speed residence in Franklin County. FIPS codes are used by the U.S. Census Bureau and other federal agencies.
“Their house is not in 28,” Davis asserted. “Part of their property is in 28.”
Utilizing the scale on an aerial photo with Census blocks overlaid, Davis estimated Speed’s house is some 313 feet from House District 28.
In response to a question from Stroud, Davis said, “It looks like he [Speed] pays taxes in Banks County for the parcel the house is located on.”
Asked to pull up Franklin County property tax documents, Davis said there are no documents in Franklin County related to Speed’s address.
Both Tyson and Speed’s attorney argued there is room for error overlaying Census data on a satellite photo, and that the Georgia Legislature controls county line borders, not the U.S. Census Bureau.
Evans rested Gasaway’s case, and Tyson will begin to present evidence when court resumes at 9 a.m. Thursday, then on Friday the portion of the case related to Speed will be heard.
