by Dave Williams | Sep 12, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Two Fulton County judges have disqualified independent Cornel West and socialist Claudia De la Cruz from Georgia’s presidential ballot, narrowing the field of qualified candidates in the Peach State to four.
In decisions handed down Wednesday, the judges ruled that electors for West and De la Cruz improperly filed nominating petitions for their candidates. The ruling reverses a decision by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger late last month.
However, the names of West and De la Cruz still will appear on the Nov. 5 ballot because it’s too late to remove them.
“The deadline to send for ballots for overseas and military voters is days away,” Judge Thomas A. Cox Jr. wrote in the West case. “Given the importance of the 2024 presidential election, the critical importance of voter confidence in elections, and the importance of consistency in ballots … this court ORDERS the secretary of state to post notices complying with the language of this order … and at every polling location to alert all Georgia voters that Dr. Cornel West is not a valid candidate.”
Raffensperger’s Aug. 29 decision permitted six candidates to appear on Georgia’s presidential ballot: West, De la Cruz, Vice President Kamala Harris, former President Donald Trump, Libertarian Chase Oliver and the Green Party’s Jill Stein.
The Democratic Party of Georgia appealed the secretary’s ruling, citing an earlier decision by an administrative law judge taking West and De la Cruz off the ballot.
A poll Quinnipiac University released this week showed West and De la Cruz each with 1% of the Georgia vote. With both running to the left of Harris, Democrats were concerned they could siphon off votes from the vice president in what promises to be a close contest for Georgia’s 16 electoral votes.
by Dave Williams | Sep 11, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Civil and voting rights groups have filed a “friend of the court” brief in a lawsuit challenging two rules changes the State Election Board’s Republican majority adopted in recent weeks.
The ACLU of Georgia, Southern Poverty Law Center, and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law argue the changes threaten to upend Georgia’s longstanding mandatory election certification rules and disenfranchise Georgia voters.
The three Republicans on the five-member board approved rules changes allowing local election officials to conduct a “reasonable inquiry” before certifying election results if they suspect election fraud as well as “examine all election-related documentation created during the conduct of elections prior to certification of results.”
The lawsuit, filed late last month by the Democratic National Committee and the Democratic Party of Georgia, maintains state law requires local election officials to certify election results..
“Democracy is not strengthened by putting certification and the right to vote at risk,” said Poy Winichakul, senior staff attorney for democracy and voting rights with the Southern Poverty Law Center. “These regulations could confuse and delay the final certification of election results – all of which are direct threats to the voting rights of Georgians.”
“County election boards have a clear duty under Georgia law to faithfully report and timely certify their election returns,” added Sophia Lakin, director of the ACLU’s Voting Rights Project. “The State Election Board’s last-minute rules changes inject uncertainty and confusion into certification and threaten the fundamental right to vote.”
The lawsuit contends Republicans could use the new rules so close to the November elections to cast doubt on Georgia’s election results, potentially setting the stage for former President Donald Trump to be declared the winner of the Peach State’s 16 electoral votes, even if Vice President Kamala Harris has won more votes.
Georgia Republican Chairman Josh McKoon has called the changes “common-sense rules” aimed at promoting election integrity.
by Dave Williams | Sep 11, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Two convicted cyber criminals were sentenced to prison this week in Gwinnett County for their role in fraud schemes with multiple victims.
Ugochinyere Anazodo, 46, of Gwinnett and Dominique Beaulieu, 45, of Windermere, Fla., were convicted late last month for participating in several cyber scams including business email compromise, romance fraud, and inheritance and identity theft.
Among the victims was the Georgia Department of Transportation, which was fraudulently induced to pay a legitimate vendor’s invoices to the defendants. In another scheme, a private citizen was conned by a man she believed she could trust, and her money flowed to Anazodo through four separate business bank accounts – all of which had been established using the stolen identities of Georgians.
“We’re working each day to put a stop to the cyber criminals who are targeting Georgians and stealing their hard-earned dollars, and our efforts have proven successful,” said state Attorney General Chris Carr, whose White Collar and Cyber Crime Unit prosecuted the case.
“Cyber fraud has become an increasing problem,” added Chris Hosey, director of the Georgia Bureau of Investigation. “With the advancement of technology, criminals are finding more ways to steal hardworking Georgians’ assets. We will continue to work with our partners to ensure these defendants are brought to justice.”
After a nine-day jury trial, Anazodo was sentenced to 20 years in prison after being convicted on two counts of racketeering and one count each of money laundering and theft by taking. He also was ordered to pay restitution of nearly $1.2 million.
Beaulieu pleaded guilty of two counts of racketeering and was sentenced to five years in prison.
by Dave Williams | Sep 10, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Former President Donald Trump is holding a slight lead over Vice President Kamala Harris in Georgia, according to a new poll.
The survey of 969 likely voters conducted Sept. 4-Sept. 8 by Quinnipiac University showed Republican Trump with 49% of the vote to 45% for Democrat Harris, and 1% each for independent Cornel West and socialist Claudia De la Cruz. Trump’s lead is slightly above the poll’s margin of error of plus-or-minus 3.2%.
Not surprisingly, Trump and Harris held huge leads among self-identified members of their respective parties. Independents were divided equally, with Trump and Harris tied at 46%.
Men and white voters overwhelmingly favored Trump, with the former president leading Harris among men 56% to 37%, and holding an advantage of 68% to 28% among white voters.
Harris held a slightly smaller lead among women voters, leading Trump 52% to 43%. Black voters overwhelmingly supported Harris, with 82% of the vote to just 8% for Trump.
Georgia is considered one of a handful of battleground states in this year’s race for president. Four years ago saw Democrat Joe Biden carry the Peach State by a razor-thin majority of fewer than 12,000 votes over then-incumbent Trump, the first Democrat to win Georgia’s electoral votes since Bill Clinton in 1992.
by Dave Williams | Sep 10, 2024 | Capitol Beat News Service
ATLANTA – Georgia Senate Democrats called on their Republican colleagues Tuesday to pass gun safety legislation in the wake of last week’s school shooting in Barrow County.
“We really don’t have to live this way,” Senate Minority Leader Gloria Butler, D-Stone Mountain, said during a news conference at the state Capitol. “We don’t have to accept that Republicans from Washington to the Governor’s Mansion to here under the Gold Dome will sit on their hands and shut their mouths about gun safety.”
The Senate Democrats’ news conference followed a similar public call for action on gun safety state House Democrats made last week, two days after two teachers and two students at Apalachee High School near Winder were shot and killed. A 14-year-old student, Colt Gray, was arrested at the scene and charged with felony murder.
On Tuesday, Senate Democrats posted a sign informing those who attended the news conference that an average of 1,927 Georgians are being killed by guns every year, while the Republican-controlled General Assembly hasn’t passed any gun safety laws since 2018.
“They offer thoughts and prayers, then turn their backs on the victims when they plead for action,” said Sen. Elena Parent, D-Atlanta, who chairs the Senate Democratic Caucus.
Parent, other legislative Democrats, and some Republicans have introduced various gun safety bills in recent years, including measures either encouraging or requiring Georgians to lock their firearms and store them in a secure location, offering tax credits for Georgians who buy firearm storage devices such as trigger locks or gun safes, and a “red flag” law allowing the temporary seizure of firearms from a person deemed a danger to themselves or others. But none have made it through the General Assembly to Gov. Brian Kemp’s desk.
“We call on all of those in the majority to take meaningful action,” Parent said. “Our children deserve to be safe in their schools and in their community.”
House Democrats called on Kemp last week to call a special legislative session to take up gun safety legislation.
The governor has included money in the state budget for school districts to use in safety efforts and signed legislation requiring schools to conduct “intruder alert drills” and submit school safety plans. But he has not been receptive to calling a special session.
