Author Archives: Tammy Joyner

State elections officials Tuesday dismissed an illegal voting complaint against the wife of football legend Herschel Walker who is running as a Republican candidate from Georgia in the U.S. Senate race. The State Elections Board voted 4-0 to close the case against Julie Blanchard who was alleged to have voted illegally in Georgia while living […]

Georgia’s top election official wants state lawmakers to change the state constitution so that only American citizens can vote in municipal elections. Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger recently became the first Georgian to sign a petition calling for that amendment to the state constitution. “I understand how important it is to have the right to […]

The odometer on voting rights activist Fenika Miller’s 2014 Ford Fusion has racked up nearly 300,000 miles. Most of those miles have been added since March when Miller’s organization launched an all-out blitzkrieg of sorts against Georgia’s controversial new election reform law. As senior state coordinator for Black Voters Matter, Miller runs the organization’s operation from […]

Atlanta political stalwart Cathy Woolard Wednesday was tapped to lead the troubled elections operations of the state’s largest county, despite vigorous opposition. Woolard was appointed chair of Fulton County’s elections board after strident criticism over her ties to Fair Fight Action, a voting rights group founded by Stacey Abrams. Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger slammed the […]

Georgia’s six-month-old election reform law will see its first major test in the coming weeks as voters across the state head to the polls for municipal elections. Many of the provisions in the Election Integrity Act of 2021 will serve as the first wake-up call for many voters who until now hadn’t given much more than a […]

Voting rights activist Stacey Abrams will headline the Georgia Legal Services Program’s 50th annual Rural Georgia Justice and Poverty Summit later this month. The September 17 summit brings together researchers, state agencies, philanthropists, community policymakers and attorneys to talk about problems such as housing, education, public health, poverty and other critical issues affecting low-income and […]

Why should lawmakers have all the fun — or power — when it comes to creating the district where you’ll vote for city council, school board or Congress members? For the first time in history, there are DIY apps for that for the public. You can now draw political boundary maps yourself to get a […]

Working in male-dominated industries like foreign policy, national security and the nuclear field helped honed Jane Kim Coloseus for the job she has now. Coloseus is executive director of Her Term, a four-year-old Atlanta-based nonprofit that recruits women to run for public office in the Georgia state legislature. It is an organization of about 10 people. […]

Fifty-eight years ago this Saturday a young Atlanta minister stepped up to a podium to address a crowd that filled the length of the two-mile National Mall in Washington, D.C. They had gathered from around the country for the March on Washington, a protest against civil rights abuses and employment discrimination. They wanted to hear […]

A nationally known elections law attorney and authority on voting rights and redistricting has formed his own law firm so he can devote more time to these matters. Marc Elias is leaving the blue-chip law firm of Perkins Coie where he headed its Washington, D.C.-based Political Law Group to form Elias Law Group. Ten Perkins […]

Atlanta high school students are slated to take part in a pilot program that could make learning about democracy part of school curriculums nationwide. An estimated 2,000 Atlanta Public Schools juniors and seniors will learn about the history of democracy and the importance of local government in a new initiative called Democracy Class Atlanta. “APS […]

Fulton County’s embattled elections office Wednesday edged closer to a possible state takeover of its operations. The State Elections Board appointed a performance review panel to look into Fulton County’s election management. The review essentially puts Fulton – which has long wrestled with long lines during elections and other problems over the years – on […]

New federal census data show Georgians are more ethnically and racially diverse and live mostly in and around large cities like Atlanta, Savannah and Macon. The data is key in reshaping Georgia’s political landscape and determining the outcome of future elections. Georgia lawmakers and cartographers will use the data this fall to create new political districts based […]

While many people are enjoying vacations with family, Georgia State Senator John F. Kennedy has spent most of his summer traveling the four corners of the Peach State. He and fellow lawmaker State Rep. Bonnie Rich (R-Suwanee) listened to scores of Georgians discuss their concerns about the upcoming redistricting process, a crucial decennial duty that […]

On Thursday, the Census Bureau will release new data that should help kick America’s redistricting process into high gear. This effort is already months behind due to the pandemic and schedule changes. The data used for redistricting will be officially released during a 1 p.m.census bureau news conference. It will be an initial analysis of the first […]

Georgia State Rep. Bee Nguyen is not one to back down from a fight, especially when it involves exposing dishonesty. The lawmaker’s fact-checking finesse last year discounted claims by former President Trump’s legal team — headed by former New York Mayor Rudy Guilliani — that thousands of illegal ballots were cast in Georgia during the 2020 […]

Fed up with how Fulton County runs elections, a group of north Fulton mayors is looking at other options for future elections in their cities. “We’re looking for the opportunity to manage elections outside of the county if the county cannot reform itself,” Johns Creek Mayor Mike Bodker told Atlanta Civic Circle. “We’re looking at what […]

The opening salvo over who ultimately will control elections in Georgia’s largest county has been fired. Speculation has been mounting for weeks over whether the General Assembly is close to taking over the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections. The board is in the cross-hairs of Georgia elections czar Brad Raffensperger for alleged mismanagement. […]

By Tammy Joyner and Ben Abrams The blended family is made up of three generations. Parents Richard Ross and Diane Lore are Baby Boomers. Oldest son Ian is a Millennial. Middle son David and Emily the youngest are Gen Zers — also called Zoomers. Politically, the Marietta family is as diverse as Americans come: two […]

Angered by ongoing speculation of a possible Republican-led state takeover of his county’s elections process, Fulton County Chair Robb Pitts lashed out Tuesday, vowing to fight any such tactic. “They’re trying to set the stage for a hostile takeover of our election system because they want a political win to appease believers of a big […]