The State Elections Board is sending a complaint against Habersham County Election Superintendent Laurel Ellison to the State Attorney General’s Office to be investigated. The panel bound over the case to Attorney General Chris Carr during its meeting on February 24.
The complaint dates back three years to 2018, when it was revealed publicly that Ellison had incorrectly districted 402 voters in the wrong State House districts. She incorrectly placed 214 voters who should have been in House District 10 in House District 28 and 188 voters who should have been in House District 28 in House District 10.
The problem came to light after the State House District 28 Republican primary on May 22, 2018. Several voters told then incumbent Dan Gasaway their ballots did not have his name on them despite knowing they lived in his district and had previously voted for him.
Gasaway filed a lawsuit on June 7 seeking a new election. On June 15, Ellison mailed letters to hundreds of misplaced voters informing them of the error. Despite her public acknowledgment, the Habersham County Commission fought Gasaway’s request for a new election and mounted a legal challenge against it.
It was not until two-and-a-half months later that the commission finally conceded errors were made and called for a new election. Stephens County also agreed to a new election but Banks County refused.
The case went to court with the counties defending what could only be described as a faulty election given the high number of misplaced voters in Habersham County. They lost, and the judge ordered a primary rerun.
Under the microscope
The State Elections Board launched an investigation into the matter in 2018. Still, it was only this week, at a time when Georgia’s election laws and officials are under intense scrutiny, that the panel finally publicly acted on the case. They voted unanimously to follow the state election investigator’s recommendation that Ellison be bound over to the AG’s office for violating the law requiring county election officials to place voters in the correct districts.
The SEB did note that when the districting errors were made – between 2013 and 2015 – Habersham County adjusted its voting precinct boundaries three times. Originally the then county manager arranged for the number of precincts to be reduced to two. After conducting one election cycle with two precincts, the decision was made to increase the number to five. Ultimately, seven precincts were established. Ellison had to keep up with those changes through the Generic Voter Registration System (GVRS).
Ellison has not responded to Now Habersham’s request for comment. County attorney Donnie Hunt did respond on February 27 stating that, as far as he knows, “neither Laurel Ellison, the County Board of Elections, the County or the County Attorney received notice of the meeting of the State Board of Elections.” As a result, Hunt says they were not aware of the board’s decision. He says until the parties are notified, he is unable to answer any further questions regarding the matter.
“I do know that Laurel was not notified in any way of the meeting of the State Board of Elections which was contrary to past procedures,” Hunt wrote in his emailed response to Now Habersham.
Gasaway, who might have won that first primary but for those districting errors (he lost by 67 votes), issued the following statement:
“Considering that the facts of this case were proven in a Superior Court case in September of 2018, it is very disappointing that it has taken this long for the state government to begin addressing this illegal activity.
The only way we will repair the Georgia election system is to have competent and honest staff at the Georgia Secretary of State’s office. A staff that keeps constant watch on county-level election corruption. We do not have that today in Georgia.
Election malfeasance not only impacts local, county, and state elections but, as we have recently witnessed, it may have national implications.
That being said, I hope this is a step forward for Georgians who care about election integrity and the importance of the right to vote. I also hope that the Habersham county commissioners who played a role in this corruption are held to account.”
At least one other investigation related to the House District 28 race between Gasaway and Chris Erwin is still pending before the State Elections Board. That investigation relates to votes that were allegedly fraudulently cast in the primary rerun. State election officials have not given any indication as to when that case might be heard.
This article has been updated to include comments from Habersham County’s attorney
