ATLANTA — Governor Brian Kemp has signed a bill that would make every election in five metro Atlanta counties non-partisan, except for sheriff and coroner.
The controversial bill includes Fulton, DeKalb, Gwinnett, Cobb and Clayton counties.
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On Tuesday night, Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston issued a joint statement calling the bill “clearly unconstitutional.”
“House Bill 369 is clearly unconstitutional, and we are appalled at Governor Brian Kemp’s decision to sign it into law. This is a blatant attempt by Republicans to give their candidates an edge in Democratic counties by hiding their party affiliation from voters.
Worse, they make clear their bad faith and unconstitutional motives by applying this legislation to only 5 of the 159 counties in Georgia: Clayton, Cobb, DeKalb, Fulton, and Gwinnett. Those five counties have elected African American Democratic women to serve as their District Attorneys.
We are committed to defending the rights of our constituents and upholding the Constitution, so we will be taking legal action to have this illegal law overturned. Sadly, thanks to the irresponsible actions of the Republican majorities in the legislature and Governor Kemp, taxpayers will be the ones footing the bill to defend it in court.”
— Fulton County District Attorney Fani Willis and DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston
Roswell Republican state Sen. John Albers, the bill’s sponsor, says it’s about public safety, not politics.
“It has nothing to do with a party,” Albers told Channel 2’s Richard Elliot in March. “We have the Super Bowl coming here. We have the NCAA. We had the World Cup. We have all these conglomerations of federal, state, and local agencies working together. If we can take the politics out of that equation, that means we’re focusing on public safety, which is my number one priority.”
When Elliot spoke to Democratic lawmakers earlier this year, they promised lawsuits if the bill was signed into law.
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