The Catoosa Playbook Reaches DeKalb
In my earlier post, I discussed the Catoosa County Republican Party’s attempt to (again) use the official Republican primary ballot as a political weapon — first by trying to block candidates from qualifying and then by attempting to print commentary about those candidates directly on the ballot itself.
As the Georgia Secretary of State’s office reminded them two years ago, that crosses a very clear line.
Ballot questions are supposed to ask voters about issues, not include the names of candidates or commentary about them. According to the Secretary of State’s General Counsel, doing so constitutes “unlawful electioneering.”
Apparently, this is not just a Catoosa County problem.
It turns out the DeKalb County Republican Party may have submitted its own set of problematic ballot questions for the upcoming primary. Yesterday, I was forwarded this screenshot of the questions.
You may have noticed that question #3 reads as follows:
“Did you know that the Georgia Republican Party adopted a resolution that stated, in part, that ‘Brad Raffensperger does not have the faith and confidence of the Georgia Republican Party’?”
Once again, this is not a policy question. It is commentary about a specific elected official printed directly on the ballot.
Which brings us back to the same principle discussed previously: Georgia law defines the ballot as “the instrument by which an elector casts his or her vote.” O.C.G.A. § 21-2-2(7).
It is not supposed to function as a campaign flyer.
The irony here is difficult to miss. One of the most vocal defenders of the Catoosa County ballot tactics has been Alex Johnson, who has been trying to push through the party organizations his crusade to take the GAGOP back to a period when only GOP leaders in “smoke-filled rooms” decided the Party’s nominees, not the voters. DeKalb County is Alex Johnson’s home base.
So, now it appears that his own county party is attempting the same thing.
Whether in Catoosa or DeKalb, the rule is the same.
Political leaders are free to campaign for or against candidates using speeches, mailers, social media, and advertisements (within the confines allowed by GAGOP Rules). What they are not free to do is use the official election ballot, printed and administered by government election officials, as a messaging platform.
The ballot box is where voters speak.
It is not where party officials should be campaigning to them.
I was told by the Secretary of State that the General Counsel will be reviewing all of the ballot questions across the state, so we can expect that DeKalb will sooner or later be told that their question is disallowed. I wouldn’t be surprised if Alex Johnson and the GRA claim it’s more corruption by the Secretary of State rather than a blatant violation of election laws.
Judging by their enthusiasm for using taxpayer-funded platforms for political messaging, some of these Republicans may have promising future careers in public broadcasting.
