CLARKESVILLE — A petition filed by Rep. Dan Gasaway to contest the results of the May 22 Republican Party Primary for Georgia House District 28 will be allowed to proceed after a judge ordered that the case be assigned the date and time of its first filing attempt.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge John J. Goger ordered Monday that the petition be file-stamped for June 6 at 11:36 p.m.
Because a June 7 email to Gasaway stated the first Odyssey eFileGa filing attempt was rejected by the Fulton County Superior Court Clerk’s Office due to submission of an outdated form, the petition was re-filed, but file-stamped for June 7.
Georgia law states that petitions to contested elections must be filed within five days after election results are certified.
Accordingly, since the House District 28 election was certified by the Georgia Secretary of State’s Office on Friday, June 1, Gasaway had until June 6 to contest the results.
In that May 22 contest, Gasaway lost to challenger Chris Erwin, with Erwin receiving 3,111 votes, 67 more than incumbent Gasaway’s 3,044.
“Using voter registration data provided from the Secretary of State’s Office, Gasaway plotted the locations of voters on a map provided by the Office using Microsoft Map Point,” court documents state. “By plotting the locations of voters, Gasaway realized that voters with addresses in his district were included on the list of HD 10 voters and not on the list for HD 28 voters. Ultimately, Gasaway found at least 350 voters that had been assigned to the incorrect Georgia State House of Representatives district.”
Gasaway’s filing states all the affected voters reside in Habersham County, and that at least 67 of the 350 voters cast ballots in the May 22 election.
An affidavit from one of those voters who was assigned a House District 10 ballot rather than a House District 28 ballot states that between the 2016 Election Cycle and 2018 Election Cycle, the Habersham County Board of Elections and Registration realigned precinct boundaries in the county, moving that voter from the Center Hill Precinct to the South Habersham Precinct and placing the individual in a different Georgia House district.
Gasaway’s civil action is filed against Georgia Secretary of State and Chairman of State Elections Board Brian Kemp, Habersham County Elections Supervisor Laurel Ellison and House District 28 Republican Nominee Chris Erwin.
The case is filed in Fulton County, where Kemp resides.
Contacted by AccessWDUN, Ellison referred the matter to Habersham County Manager Phil Sutton.
“I am not at liberty to discuss any currently active or potential litigation,” Sutton told AccessWDUN by email.
http://accesswdun.com/article/2018/6/681691/habersham-officials-not-at-liberty-to-discuss-gasaway-election-lawsuit