Evan Prince of Rabun Gap was among 684 students statewide accepted into this year's Governor's Honors Program at Berry College in Rome.
Tallulah Falls School senior Evan Prince of Rabun Gap, selected for the prestigious Governor’s Honors Program in Mechanical and Electrical Engineering, finished up his summer tenure at Berry College recently.
“GHP was a humbling experience where I got to see the talent of students from all over Georgia. I majored in Engineering with a focus on Mechatronics,” Prince said. “We were given everything we possibly could have needed to plan and build a major project while I was there. That project was one of the highlights.”
According to the website, GHP is a four-week residential summer program for gifted and talented high school students who will be rising juniors and seniors during the program. The program offers instruction significantly different from the typical high school classroom. It is designed to provide students with the academic, cultural, and social enrichment necessary to become the next generation of global critical thinkers, innovators, and leaders.
Prince is one of 684 finalists in the state-wide program, held each summer at no cost to participants.
The old Clarkesville courthouse, built in 1963, has sat empty for years.
As the City of Clarkesville looks to further develop the downtown area, Lew Oliver of Lew Oliver Inc. is looking at restoring and repurposing the old Clarkesville courthouse, which could save it from demolition.
Oliver discussed bringing apartments or a hotel to the old courthouse with the county commission at their Monday work session, but put an emphasis on apartments. Oliver will have an apartment developer visit the courthouse this Thursday, and believes he can bring in more.
“Clarkesville is in transition,” Oliver tells the commission. “A lot of growth is headed this way, like it or not.”
Oliver has compiled images and records of the courthouse’s original design to inspire his plans for reconstruction.
There is a need for affordable housing in Habersham county, and with nearby colleges like North Georgia Technical College, Piedmont University and Lanier Tech, there is a market for apartments in the area. Oliver estimates that the old courthouse could be put in “prime condition” for between $6-8 million dollars. He believes the courthouse could fit about 50 one-bedroom apartments, and that a parking solution is possible to support those possible residents.
A previous developer had similar plans. In 2019, the commission approved a contract to sell the old courthouse to Wayne Enterprises South LLC for $1 million. The deal fell through last year.
The courthouse has been slated for demolition for months now, but there are those who prefer to see it renovated. Many disdain the 70’s style yellow brick exterior and brassy gold bell tower, but there is something nostalgic about having the courthouse building sit in the center of town where courthouses have stood since 1821.
Also, renovating it could save the county money.
“I’ve been hearing that there were potential developers that wanted to come to Clarkesville […] and developers are seeing the potential of the courthouse,” Commissioner Bruce Harkness tells Now Habersham. “If we have to take $500,000 of taxpayer money to tear it down, [and] we could sell it for $750,000, it makes a whole lot more money for the county to sell it as is rather than spending a ton of money to tear it down.”
With support from the county and city of Clarkesville, Oliver will be able to bring in more plans, drawings and ideas for the restoration. For now, the commission has tabled demolition until September.
CLEVELAND – Authorities are investigating the death of a Sautee man who died early this morning after a fight with his dad.
Around 4:50 a.m. Tuesday, deputies responded to a report of a domestic dispute on Boco Hills Road. White County Sheriff Rick Kelley says there was a physical altercation between the father and son. As a result, the son, 34-year-old Anthony Orem Chambers, died at the scene from a gunshot wound.
Kelley says it appears that the shooting was in self-defense. There are no charges at this time.
White County investigators requested the GBI’s assistance with the case. The investigation is ongoing.
Nancy Elizabeth Armistead Alford, age 84 of Clarkesville, went home to be with the Lord on Sunday, July 18, 2021.
Born in Decatur, Georgia on March 11, 1937, Mrs. Alford was the daughter of the late Jack and Martha Horton Armistead. She was a graduate of Decatur High School and worked as an operator for Southern Bell. She later retired as a Sales Executive with AT&T.
Mrs. Alford had a love for wearing hats and was the Queen Bee with the Red Hat Society. After retiring to the Northeast Georgia Mountains, Mrs. Alford became an active member of Bethlehem Baptist Church where she also sang in the choir and served in other ministry opportunities. She had worked part-time at Lovell, Duvall & Miller as well as Woods Furniture and was also a member of the local McDonald’s “Liars Club”. Mrs. Alford loved genealogy work and she was also an artist and pianist. She was also a member of the Habersham County Tea Party. In addition to her parents, Mrs. Alford is preceded in death by son Daniel Alford and nephew Shane Armistead.
Survivors include her son and daughter-in-law Larry and Becky Alford of Clarkesville, brother Donald Armistead of Panama City, Florida, special nephew Dr. Stephen “Bo” Armistead of Panama City, Florida, grandchildren Jerry Alford (Rachel) of Walnut Grove, Cody Alford (Georgia) of Murrayville, Lisa Appling (Chad) of Jefferson, and Jimmy Jeter (Candice) of Greenwell Springs, Louisiana, as well as five great-grandchildren, extended family and many friends.
Funeral services will be held at 10:00 AM on Thursday, July 22, 2021, at Bethlehem Baptist Church. Dr. Craig Ward, Pastor Brent Lord, and Pastor John Wood will officiate with interment to follow the service in the church cemetery. Ladies in attendance are asked to wear a hat to the service in honor of Mrs. Alford. The family will receive friends at the funeral home on Wednesday, July 21, 2021, from 4-8 PM.
In lieu of flowers, the family request that memorial donations be made to Bethlehem Baptist Church, P.O. Box 488, Clarkesville, GA 30523, or by visiting www.bbcofclarkesville.org, select give online and enter “In Memory of Nancy Alford” in the optional memo.
The Habersham County Commission has filled its county clerk and interim county manager positions after a two-month search following the resignations of former County Manager Phil Sutton and former County Clerk Lindsay Underwood.
The commission unanimously voted in an executive session following their July 19 meeting to hire Brandalin Carnes as the new county clerk. The clerk position was vacated by Lindsay Underwood in May of this year, and Carnes, who previously served as deputy clerk, has been serving in her place since.
Alicia Vaughn is set to hold the interim county manager position for the next four to six months. (image via Catoosa County government website)
Interim County Manager Alicia Vaughn, who the commission appointed July 9, is now heading the search to find a new deputy clerk. The commissioners are still on the hunt for a permanent county manager, though.
The Habersham County Commissioners voted 4-0 at their July 19 meeting to enlist the help of the University of Georgia’s Carl Vinson Institute of Government (CVIOG) in their search for a new county manager.
The search with CVIOG has a proposed timeline of three months. Vaughn is set to hold the interim position for the next four to six months, though she says she plans to apply to fill the county manager position.
COVIG’s services will cost the county $9,470, which Chairman Dustin Mealor says is a reasonable price for an executive search service. The service will help the county assess their needs and desired qualifications, run ads and assist in the search for a qualified individual to take over the position. The county has the option to also use COVIG’s services for the interviewing process, with an additional fee of $1,500 per interview session.
You can watch the full recording of the July 19 commission meeting here.
Grammy-nominated composer John Burke will host a free solo piano concert on Wednesday, July 21, at 7 p.m. at Clarkesville First United Methodist Church.
A 2007 graduate of Habersham Central, Burke’s album Orogen was nominated for Best New Age Album at the 59th Annual Grammy Awards. His recent release for string quintet, Sons of Kronos, headlined the 2020 Atlanta Chamber Music Festival.
John Burke will perform in concert at Clarkesville First United Methodist Church at 7 p.m. on Wednesday, July 21.
As a freshman in high school, Burke began playing the piano and joined Vinyl, a southern-rock band with friend and country music artist John King. Since 2011, he has composed and released eight albums. John has also composed scores for screen and video games, written and directed musicals, and sold out famous Atlanta venues with his Superstratum orchestra.
Burke recently moved back home to Habersham with his wife and son. He is due to release a new solo piano album later this year.
Clarkesville First UMC is located at 1087 Washington Street just off the downtown square.
CLEVELAND – The White County Grand Jury handed down several indictments against a man police say was involved in a crime that led to another man’s death.
Jurors indicted Jeremy Black for involuntary manslaughter. They also indicted him on charges of criminal trespass, criminal attempts to commit a misdemeanor, and possession of tools for the commission of a crime.
According to the White County Sheriff’s Office, Black was present on the morning of June 27 when officers were dispatched to a business at 109 Becky Drive in Cleveland. There, officers found 48-year-old Bruce Jeffery Reaves of Mableton under a vehicle.
White County Sheriff’s Capt. Clay Hammond said at the time that investigators believe Reeves was cutting the vehicle’s exhaust when the vehicle fell. Reeves died of his injuries.
Black, 41, of Cleveland, was arrested on July 14. He remains in the White County Detention Center.
Gov. Brian Kemp told lawmakers he wants them to discuss solutions for an Atlanta crimewave at a special session this fall. (Ross Williams/Georgia Recorder)
(GA Recorder) — Gov. Brian Kemp wants lawmakers to take on crime around Atlanta this fall when they meet for a special session.
At a special House public safety committee hearing Monday, the panelists said lawmakers could also increase the budget for state police around Atlanta, restrict local governments from establishing more moderate prosecution policies and institute better pay and retirement policies for troopers.
These policies could come up as soon as the special session lawmakers are preparing to hold as early as this fall to redraw Congressional and legislative lines after the state receives the 2020 Census data.
“It is my intention to include the work of this committee and solutions from other concerned stakeholders in my call for a special session of the General Assembly this fall,” Kemp said.
“While the General Assembly and my office, along with many state agencies, have stepped into the gap to protect our citizens and help ensure law and order in our capital city, I look forward to working with you all to see what more we can do,” Kemp added.
State officials first broached the topic of supporting Atlanta’s crime-fighting efforts near the end of this year’s legislative session, when House Speaker David Ralston announced the committee would meet to discuss the Georgia State Patrol taking over some of the Atlanta Police Department’s duties following a record-breaking year for violent crime in the city during 2020.
Funding the police
On Monday, Ralston proposed adding about $3 million to the state budget to beef up police efforts in the state capital.
“We know that a key component of fighting crime is having law enforcement officers on our streets, and I’m of the opinion we need more state law enforcement officers working in the City of Atlanta,” he said.
Ralston said he has discussed the effort with House Appropriations Chairman Terry England, an Auburn Republican. The new money would pay for 20 new officers to patrol the streets around Atlanta as part of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation’s SWAT unit and Nighthawks DUI task force at a cost of about $2 million. Ralston also proposed doubling the size of the GBI’s gang task force and the Georgia Department of Law’s human trafficking task force for a combined cost of about $1 million.
Ralston’s proposals could be considered when the budget is hammered out in the 2022 legislative session.
For comparison, police services made up about $215 million of Atlanta’s $673 million general fund in the city’s 2021 budget.
“I expect this announcement will be just the beginning,” Ralston said.
Improving recruitment and retention
Several speakers at Monday’s hearing connected Atlanta’s violent crime wave with calls to defund police departments that followed last summer’s social justice protests, although Atlanta did not reduce police funding.
But lower public confidence in law enforcement officers means fewer young people are interested in getting into the profession, and experienced police officers are starting to consider other options, said Maj. Joshua Lamb of the Georgia State Patrol.
“If you embolden society to dislike the police, don’t be surprised when people are not signing up to do this job,” he said. “That’s just the reality of the situation. In the past, we were always concerned with recruiting, we were focusing our efforts on recruiting the next generation to come into law enforcement. Now, retention has become as much of a problem as recruiting.”
The Georgia State Patrol employs about 760 troopers, the lowest Lamb said he can remember. The department’s goal is to have 1,000 troopers, he added.
Lawmakers could encourage officers to stick around by giving them more clarity about their earning potential, Lamb said.
Like all state employees, Georgia State troopers receive pay hikes when the Legislature decides to grant them. That can mean it is difficult to know when they might see bigger paychecks.
“If they can look and be able to better predict what their salary will be during certain times throughout the course of their career, I think, would build stability and predictability into their salary, but in turn, also their retirement plan. That keeps coming up a lot, and that seems to be where their mind is, not so much on salary, but salary tied into the retirement plan.”
Restricting local governments
In May, Kemp signed a bill restricting local governments from cutting police budgets by more than 5%.
The measure drew criticism from supporters of local control, who argued that city and county officials are better suited than state lawmakers to decide how to allocate their resources.
The 2022 legislative session could see lawmakers once again attempt to pass bills to restrict localities from adopting more moderate policing practices.
Rep. Alan Powell, a Hartwell Republican, questioned whether that approach could be applied to cash bail, the requirement that a suspect put up money or property to be released before their trial. Cash bail requirements have been questioned by criminal justice reformers in recent years as critics say the practice disproportionately harms poor suspects, but Powell compared attempts to end it with letting criminals run free.
“It may be when we’re in the mood of drafting new legislation, that we need to start being more specific about bonding under certain offenses so that they have no latitude, and start taking some of this latitude away from these more liberal judges who think that they just need to be turned out under personal recognizance when these are dangerous people that have shown a pattern of behavior that needs to be dealt with until they can go in front of the judge or in front of the court,” Powell said.
Attorney General Chris Carr singled out District Attorney Deborah Gonzalez of Georgia’s Western Judicial Circuit.
Gonzalez, who was elected last year, has called for a raft of reforms, including not charging people for simple marijuana possession, expanding pre-trial diversion, and recommending defendants charged with non-violent crimes be released without putting up cash or property.
Carr said district attorneys should not be able to pick and choose which kinds of cases they prosecute.
“That’s a dereliction of duty,” he told lawmakers. “You all pass the laws of the state. The governor signs those laws. If they don’t like it, they should run for the Legislature and change the law that way. I think it is dangerous for a member of the executive branch or the judicial branch to say I’m just not going to enforce the law.”
In a statement, Gonzalez accused Carr of playing politics.
“The people elected me to do two things,” she said. “First, prioritize serious, violent crime instead of misusing resources on minor, victimless offenses. Second, use proven approaches to reform a system that has failed to make our communities safer. That’s what I’m doing. Violent crime is a serious problem, and if AG Carr wants to stop playing politics and work together on addressing it, I am ready to do so.”
Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Tuesday Georgia Court of Appeals Court Judge Verda Colvin to the serve on the state Supreme Court.
(GA Recorder) — Gov. Brian Kemp picked a Georgia Court of Appeals judge to become his newest appointee to the state Supreme Court, making Verda Colvin the second Black woman to serve on the state’s highest court.
The Republican governor announced Tuesday that Colvin will fill the vacancy of the former Chief Justice Harold Melton, whose departure early this month briefly left the Supreme Court bench without a Black justice for the first time since 1989.
Just 15 months after Kemp selected Colvin to join the court of appeals, he promoted her to the Supreme Court from among six finalists.
Former Justice Leah Ward Sears, who served from 1992 to 2005, was the first Black woman to serve on Georgia’s Supreme Court.
“It is an honor to appoint such an experienced and accomplished justice to our state’s Supreme Court,” Kemp said in a statement Tuesday. “With Justice Colvin on the bench, Georgia’s highest court is gaining an immensely talented and principled judge who will help guide it in the years to come.”
After spending 15 years as an assistant U.S. attorney for the Middle District of Georgia, Gov. Nathan Deal appointed Colvin to Macon’s Superior Court in 2014.
Gov. Brian Kemp appointed Tuesday Georgia Court of Appeals Court Judge Verda Colvin to serve on the state Supreme Court.
During her tenure as a judge in Macon, Colvin gained widespread attention for her lectures to young people who had been in legal trouble, including an emotional 2016 speech that went viral as she encouraged them to stay out of trouble or run the risk of deadly consequences.
On Tuesday, Chief Justice David Nahmias welcomed Colvin’s arrival on the Supreme Court bench. Nahmias officially took over as the leader of the court after Melton stepped down on July 1.
“Given her background and experience, including many years as a Court of Appeals and trial court judge, we are confident that she is eminently qualified to serve on the state’s highest court,” Nahmias said.
Colvin’s appointment is one of six judicial selections announced by Kemp on Tuesday, including Andrew Pinson, the Solicitor General in the Attorney General’s office, to fill Colvin’s seat on the appeals court.
Kemp also named Public Service Commissioner Chuck Eaton as a judge in the Atlanta Judicial Circuit.
Colvin becomes the third justice that Kemp has picked for the state Supreme Court, the state’s court of last resort, which decides cases as serious as upholding a death penalty conviction and whether the government can forcefully take ownership of private property.
Kemp’s previous two appointments were also women. In March 2020, former state Appeals Court Judge Carla Wong McMillian became the first Asian American woman in the Southeast to serve on a state Supreme Court. Former Fulton County Superior Court Judge Shawn Ellen LaGrua joined in January.
A young swimmer talks with youth swim coach Caden Griffis. (Lane Gresham/Tallulah Falls School)
Bringing to a close Tallulah Falls School’s inaugural summer swim league season, two dozen athletes celebrated with a shark-themed meet on July 16. Natatorium Director Katie Ralston engaged the help of youth coaches and lifeguards to add a festive touch to the new swim facility.
It was a great chance to continue to test the Colorado timers and scoring technology in a meet environment, Ralston said. Head Swim Coach Rachel Nichols was on hand to manage the stats, heat sheets, and scoring.
Keeping with the shark theme, shark tooth necklaces were prizes for winners of the 16 events. Attendees also enjoyed frozen treats from the Kona Ice truck.
“It was a great way to celebrate this exciting first season on an upbeat, positive note,” Ralston said.
At the end of the meet, the coaches challenged swim team members to a relay, Ralston added.
Athletic Director Scott Neal said the summer program clearly met a need in the community.
“From swim lessons, which continue throughout the summer, to the summer swim team to lifeguard and WSI training, the new natatorium has been an incredible asset,” Neal said. “The team of lifeguards and swim instructors has been quite stellar, and Katie Ralston has quickly set a vision in motion for the natatorium to be a fun-filled place where people learn, compete, and have a whole lot of fun. The shark-themed meet was a good example of this!”
WINDER – Today, retired Air Force Colonel Alan Sims launched his campaign for the Republican nomination for Congress in Georgia’s 10th District. Alan is a conservative Republican and a native of the district.
“Growing up in a military family, it was all about service and results. My dad was a veteran, who built a small business in north Georgia, and put me to work before I left for West Point and the military,” said Sims.
Sims is a graduate of the U.S. Military Academy at West Point and the Air War College at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama. He holds both a Master of Arts in Religion and a Master of Divinity from Liberty University. He currently serves as an international pilot for Delta Air Lines.
The former Air Force pilot is leaning heavily into his military experience and Georgia roots to appeal to grassroots conservative voters. “We need a proven fighter, and I’m ready to serve. Again,” he says.
Georgia’s 10th Congressional District includes twenty counties in the northeastern part of the state and portions of five others, including Clarke County.
Next year’s election will fill the seat currently held by Jody Hice, a Republican from Greensboro. Hice has held the seat since 2015. Earlier this year, Hice announced he intends to run for Georgia Secretary of State in 2022 rather than seek re-election to Congress. According to Ballotpedia, other candidates who’ve announced their intentions to run include:
Georgia Sen. Raphael Warnock said at a rare Senate field hearing in Atlanta Monday his top priority this year is for federal legislative intervention after lawmakers in 48 states introduced nearly 400 bills restricting voting access. (livestream screenshot)
If the rules in Georgia’s controversial 2021 voting overhaul were in place before last November’s historic U.S. Senate races were pushed to Jan. 5 runoffs, then 76,000 residents who cast their ballots would’ve been unable to register in time for the second round.
A U.S. Senate committee gathered in downtown Atlanta Monday to hear how shortened runoff timeframes, tighter absentee ballot deadlines, and new state powers over local election officials are cause for Congress to expand voting protections through pending federal legislation.
The chair of the Senate Committee on Rules and Administration, Sen. Amy Klobuchar of Minnesota, said it’s not a coincidence that the sweeping Republican legislation requires runoffs to be held 28 days after an election when state law mandates that voters are registered at least 29 days before the Election Day.
On Jan. 5, Georgia voters handed Jon Ossoff and Rev. Raphael Warnock a pair of historic victories over Republican incumbents, giving Democrats control of the federal government.
Georgia is now ground zero in the battle over access to the ballot box for Democrats and civil rights activists who say they’re fighting against voter suppression tactics that will disproportionately affect Black and other minority voters.
“It is no coincidence that this assault on the freedom to vote is happening just after the 2020 election, when nearly 160 million Americans cast a ballot — more than ever before in the middle of a pandemic, in an election the Trump Department of Homeland Security declared the most secure in history,” Klobuchar said during the first field hearing hosted by the committee in 20 years.
Republican-controlled legislatures across the country this year are passing restrictive new voting laws, prompting Democratic U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland to double his enforcement staff to protect voting rights.
U.S. Sen. Amy Klobuchar called Georgia ground zero for restrictive voting laws during a Monday voting law hearing hosted by the Senate Rules and Administration in Atlanta. The hearing came in response to state Republican’s passing new voting rules that have led to Congressional Democrats pressing for new federal standards. (Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder)
“This year alone, as I noted, hundreds of hundreds of bills have been introduced,” Klobuchar said. “That is why we are here.”
The hearing at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights was held two days after the first anniversary of the death of the civil rights icon and U.S. Rep. John Lewis, the namesake for a voting law stalled in the Senate that would restore a pre-clearance formula set by the Voting Rights Act of 1965. The Senate panel and witnesses that included Warnock, Ossoff, state legislators and others also called for the Senate to move forward with the “For the People Act.”
The path for passing federal voting rights legislation is steep, as the 50 Senate Republicans are showing solidarity against both bills. Without GOP support, the bills will need to reach the unlikely 60-vote threshold required to end a filibuster and advance to the desk of President Joe Biden for his signature.
Warnock said his top priority this year is for federal intervention after lawmakers in 48 states introduced nearly 400 bills restricting voting access.
“We have no time to spare; there’s nothing more important for us to do in Congress,” he said.
Republican supporters of Georgia’s election overhaul argue that the legislation improves the security of the absentee voting system. Some Georgians would get more voting options, including a mandated extra weekend voting day and more public notice on polling location changes.
Witnesses testified Monday that allowing fewer days to receive and return absentee ballots, limiting the number of drop boxes, and requiring ID to receive an absentee ballot will result in longer lines in places where most voters are Black.
Many voters in metro Atlanta used absentee ballot drop boxes to cast votes, a method approved for the first time by state officials to keep people safe in the pandemic. The new law restricts how many drop boxes a county can provide.
Ossoff said Monday that he waited several hours in line to vote in last year’s primary at a precinct that’s majority Black.
The senators and witnesses also testified that during 2020 Black voters used absentee ballots at a higher rate than prior years and how the turnout among Latino and Asian-American groups resulted in some key victories in the presidential and congressional elections.
Georgia Sen. Sally Harrell, left, and Helen Butler, director of Georgia Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda, testify Monday about the need for new federal voting rights standards following sweeping Republican legislation. The two spoke before the U.S. Senate Rules Committee at its first field meeting in 20 years. (Stanley Dunlap/Georgia Recorder)
Sen. Sally Harrell said that Republicans rushed the final version of the election legislation through when a two-page Senate version morphed into a 98-page bill in the waning days of the General Assembly in late March.
She urged Congress to pass the voting legislation.
“It’s not a static thing where you’re going to be able to pass one bill and solve it all because the methods keep changing,” said the Atlanta Democrat. “So stay with us. We need to keep feeding this information so that Congress can constantly help ensure that where you live doesn’t determine if your vote counts.”
Georgia Republicans continued to defend the state’s new rules in a call held with reporters after the Senate hearing and dismissed Monday’s stop in Atlanta as a publicity stunt designed to appease the Democratic base after coming up short on support for a federal voting measure.
“It doesn’t matter if it’s the DOJ, the DNC, or the Senate Democrats. We aren’t backing down,” Gov. Brian Kemp told reporters. “We’re going to continue to fight for the truth, and we’re going to stand up for secure, accessible, and fair elections.”
Kemp said he and Attorney General Chris Carr were unable to accept an invitation to appear at the hearing due to a conflicting legislative committee meeting focused on crime in Atlanta.
“To me, I don’t think anything about this hearing has been fair,” Kemp said. “I’ve done over 90 interviews, answering any questions that I’ve gotten from anybody on Senate Bill 202.”
And U.S. Senate Republican leader Mitch McConnell dismissed the hearing as another attempt to spread the message that Georgia’s updated voting law is unfair.
“This spring, the state of Georgia passed a mainstream election law that expanded early voting and made drop boxes permanent for the first time,” said the Kentucky lawmaker. “The left responded with a total meltdown, the Regulations that left Georgia with more flexible early voting and more flexible absentee voting than many blue states including New York were — insanely — called ‘Jim Crow 2.0.”
Georgia’s election results have been confirmed through several counts, and 2020’s elections are hailed as the most secure in the state’s history by Republican Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.
Helen Butler, executive director of Georgia Coalition for the Peoples’ Agenda, testified Monday the provision that worries her most is the state’s new ability to take over local election boards deemed to be underperforming.
“It is the most egregious part of SB 202 because, as you know, those local boards control the implementation of the process from registration, to the ballots, to the certification of the election,” Butler said.
State Rep. Barry Fleming, a Harlem Republican who ushered the election overhaul through the contentious legislative process until the governor signed it, defended the provision he compares to a school-turnaround measure that allows the state to take over low-performing schools.
“We thought it was an appropriate response to try to better make sure voters’ vote count in Georgia and future elections,” Fleming said.
Carr, who is defending the election law in court against a U.S. Department of Justice lawsuit, called the hearing a “circus” and accused President Joe Biden of weaponizing the DOJ against the state.
Georgia Recorder Deputy Editor Jill Nolin contributed to this report.
