A Georgia appeals court rules Fulton County can reject GOP election board picks
ATLANTA (AP) — A Georgia appeals court ruled on Friday that the state's largest county doesn't have to appoint two Republican nominees to the county election board, a decision that could tamp down GOP challenges to how elections are administered in predominantly Democratic areas.
The state Court of Appeals found that while elected leaders of Fulton County must appoint two county election board members from nominees provided by the county Republican Party, county commissioners have the freedom to reject names and ask for other choices.
The Democratic majority on the Fulton County Commission voted last year to reject Republican nominees Julie Adams and Jason Frazier, saying their actions made them unsuitable to serve. The county Republican Party sued, and a judge ordered the commissioners to vote to approve the Adams and Frazier, finding the board in contempt after they refused. Friday's ruling means the county won't have to pay a contempt fine of $10,000 a day that had been stayed pending appeal.
In a unanimous opinion by a three-judge panel, Presiding Judge Anne Barnes wrote that commissioners are required to choose from a list of Republican nominees, but “were acting within their own lawful and discretionary authority when they declined to seat” the party's choices. She wrote that the solution is for the Republican Party to submit new nominees.
https://www.yahoo.com/news/articles/georgia-appeals-court-rules-fulton-222211494.html