Cobb County’s electoral map is unconstitutional, the primary elections conducted in May for County Commission Districts 2 and 4 will have to be redone, and the November general election for those seats must be postponed, a judge ruled Thursday.
The sweeping and historic ruling is a direct consequence of the majority Democratic Cobb County Commission deciding in 2022 to redraw electoral lines to their own liking, after state legislators drew sitting Commissioner Jerica Richardson out of her district mid-term. The state constitution vests redistricting power with the state Legislature, but Cobb officials argued they could wrest that jurisdiction power away under the Home Rule provision.
Residents of Districts 2 and 4 who just voted in the May primary election, and in the District 2 runoff, will have to do it all over again — likely in 2025. An election do-over, while extremely rare in Georgia, will allow individuals to run for office who were unable to qualify for this year’s election because they lived outside the district lines in the county-passed map.
The order is the second case out of Cobb Superior Court tossing out the county’s unprecedented, self-passed map. The first case, filed by voters and a sitting commissioner, was appealed to the Georgia Supreme Court and then dismissed on procedural grounds.
Judge Kellie Hill ruled in favor of plaintiff Alicia Adams, a candidate who was disqualified from running for office because she did not live in District 2 under the county map.
Credit: Ben Hendren for the AJC
Credit: Ben Hendren for the AJC
The Cobb Board of Elections is unlikely to appeal the ruling due to its continued neutral stance on the map’s legality. Elections Board Chair Tori Silas said that while still processing the decision, the board is “glad to have finally received guidance from a court.”
One of the court’s rulings reverses the Board of Elections’ decision to disqualify Adams and rules the map is unconstitutional. That case includes Mindy Seger, who originally challenged Adams’ qualification and could potentially appeal the decision to the Georgia Supreme Court. When reached for comment Thursday, Seger said she and her attorney are reviewing next steps.
The other ruling requires the Cobb Board of Elections to postpone the upcoming general election for Districts 2 and 4 in November, and to call a special primary election for the affected districts. Hill ruled that the county’s move to pass its own map was “outside of the authority granted to the Cobb County Commission” in the Georgia Constitution’s home rule provision, and Adams has a “clear legal right to seek qualification as a candidate” under the state-drawn map.
“We’re happy that Alicia now can qualify and run for the office,” said Adams’ attorney, Chuck Boring.
Credit: Ben Hendren
Credit: Ben Hendren
The case, brought against the Board of Elections, does not address the County Commission’s use of the map, under which it has been operating since January 2023. It is unclear how the ruling will affect Richardson, who does not live in her elected District 2 under the state-drawn map. County spokesman Ross Cavitt said the county attorney’s office declined to comment because the county is not involved in this case.
Cobb Chairwoman Lisa Cupid said in a statement she “respects Judge Hill’s ruling, and we will assess now how to move forward.”
When the primary elections are redone, Republican candidate Adams will be allowed to run. But Pamela Reardon, the sole GOP contender on the primary ballot in May, will not live in District 2 under the state-passed map and said she will instead run for District 3 in 2026.
Reardon said the taxpayers will bear the burden for the county’s move to draw its own map: “All the money that has been wasted on a primary and a runoff primary, and now they have to redo it,” she said.
Candidate Jaha Howard won the Democratic primary for District 2 after facing four other candidates and a runoff election. He said he is disappointed by the ruling but plans to run again.
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