By Shipwreckedcrew
On December 4, 2020, the Trump Campaign filed a lawsuit challenging the outcome of the Presidential election contest in Georgia. The action was filed in Fulton County Superior Court. I wrote an article on the suit the day it was filed.
Trump Files Georgia Election Contest In Fulton County.
This was a contest I had been anticipating because it was specifically provided for in the Georgia election statutes, and it is not one where the Court would need to wrestle with jurisdictional issues such as “standing” by the parties, or timing issues such as “laches.” All the attention in Georgia up to that point were suits filed in federal court by Lin Wood and Sidney Powell, which had all manner of procedural and evidentiary deficiencies.
Filing the state court lawsuit had to await the “certification” of the outcome by the Georgia Secretary of State, which meant that it could only be filed after the “hand recount” was completed as ordered by the Secretary of State.
Within the allegations of the 64-page Complaint the Trump campaign claims they have witness testimony for the courtroom that will identify “illegal” votes in the following numbers:
- 2,560 felons
- 66,247 underage voters
- 2,423 votes from people not registered
- 1,043 individuals registered at post office boxes
- 4,926 individuals who voted in Georgia after registering in another state
- 395 individuals who voted in two states
- 15,700 votes from people who moved out of state before the election
- 40,279 votes of people who moved without re-registering in their new county
- Another 30,000 to 40,000 absentee ballots lacking proper signature matching and verification
Under Georgia election statutes, these claims are squarely within the classification of “errors” that can support the basis of contesting the outcome of an election: Official Code of Georgia Annotated Sec. 21-2-522 states:
A result of a primary or election may be contested on one or more of the following grounds:
(1) Misconduct, fraud, or irregularity by any primary or election official or officials sufficient to change or place in doubt the result;
(2) When the defendant is ineligible for the nomination or office in dispute;
(3) When illegal votes have been received or legal votes rejected at the polls sufficient to change or place in doubt the result;
(4) For any error in counting the votes or declaring the result of the primary or election, if such error would change the result; or
(5) For any other cause which shows that another was the person legally nominated, elected, or eligible to compete in a run-off primary or election.The number of allegedly invalid votes which are claimed to have been cast in the complaint exceeds the margin of Biden’s win in Georgia.
After a losing candidate files the Complaint, the procedures laid out by Georgia statutes are as follows [I have edited out unnecessary text for purposes of brevity and ease of reading]:
Sec. 21-2-523 dictates where such actions are to be filed, and how they are to proceed once they are filed:
(c) Upon the filing of a contest petition, the clerk of the superior court having jurisdiction shall immediately notify the administrative judge for the judicial administrative district in which that county lies, or the district court administrator, who shall immediately notify the administrative judge, of the institution of proceedings under this article. If the county in which the proceedings were instituted is not in the circuit of the administrative judge, the administrative judge shall select a superior court judge from within the district, but not from the circuit in which the proceeding was instituted, or a senior judge not a resident of the circuit in which the proceeding was instituted, to preside over the contest.
(d) If the administrative judge is a member of the circuit in which the proceeding was filed, or if the other judges of the district are unable or are unwilling to preside over the proceeding, or if the other judges of the district are judges of the circuit in which the proceeding was filed, then the administrative judge shall select an administrative judge of an adjoining district to select a superior court judge from that district, or a superior court judge from the district in which the proceeding was filed, but not the circuit in which the proceeding was filed, or a senior judge who is not a resident of the circuit wherein the proceeding was filed.
(e) After a judge has agreed to preside over the case, the administrative judge who selected the judge to hear the matter shall enter an order in the superior court of the county where the proceeding was filed appointing such judge, and such judge shall promptly begin presiding over such proceedings in such court and shall determine same as soon as practicable. Such judge shall be reimbursed for his or her actual expenses for food and lodging and shall receive the same mileage as any other state officials and employees. Senior judges shall be entitled to compensation and reimbursement as the law provides for senior judge service.
An understanding of this section of the statutes requires a bit of a “secret decoder ring” as to the descriptions. The basics are that when county election officials are named as defendants, the Judge assigned to preside over the case cannot be from the same county as the officials being sued. The Superior Courts in Georgia are based in the Counties, but organized by “District”. The “Administrative Judge” for the District where the suit is filed names a Superior Court Judge from the District — but not the County being sued — to preside over the case. The bottom line is that a Judge from Fulton County will not be assigned to preside over the case, it will be a judge from another County in the same “District.”
Sec. 21-2-524 — “Filing and allegations of petition to contest primary or election…”, states:
(a) A petition to contest the result of a primary or election shall be filed in the office of the clerk of the superior court having jurisdiction … and shall allege:
(5) Each ground of contest;
(7) The relief sought; and
(c) When an error in the counting of votes is alleged as a ground of contest, it is sufficient for the contestant to state generally that he or she believes that error was committed in the counting of the votes cast for the filling of the nomination or office in dispute, or for or against the question in dispute, in one or more specified precincts; and it shall not be necessary for the contestant to offer evidence to substantiate such allegation….
(e) A statement of the grounds of contest shall not be rejected, nor the proceedings dismissed by any court, for want of form, if the grounds of contest are alleged with such certainty as will advise the defendant of the particular proceeding or cause for which the primary or election is contested.
(f) Upon such petition being filed, the clerk of the superior court shall issue notice, in the form of special process directed to the sheriff of such county, requiring the defendant and any other person named in such petition as a candidate for such nomination or office, if any, to appear and answer such petition, on a day to be fixed in such notice, not more than ten days nor less than five days after the service of such notice…. Any other person who was a candidate at such primary or election for the nomination or office involved and upon whom notice was served as provided in this subsection shall be deemed a litigant to such proceeding and may set up by way of answer or cross action any right of interest or claim he or she may have.
The import of this provision is that Georgia law favors substance over form — so long as the allegations are sufficiently clear, the complaint cannot be dismissed without a trial on the merits. The candidate contesting the outcome need not include evidence to substantiate the claim made in the complaint where the claim is that errors occurred in the vote-counting process.
As for the Court proceedings, Sec. 21-2-525 states:
Maybe Stacy’s sister will take this case on.
Bottom line, though, is that if one of those Obama-installed liberal judges hears the case, they would have no problem looking at the evidence and saying, “I don’t see nuthin’.” That’s what they’re there for; to support the corruption.
2,560 felons don’t vote by accident. 66,247 underage voters didn’t vote by accident. They know how old they are, as do those who registered them. 2,423 unregistered voters didn’t vote by accident. How could they? 1,043 people with PO boxes as “addresses” didn’t vote by accident. 4,926 people who were registered in another stated did not vote by accident. 395people didn’t accidentally vote in two states. 15,700 who moved didn’t vote in Georgia by accident (did they vote elsewhere also and where?) 40,279 who voted in the wrong country and precinct didn’t do so by accident and election officials didn’t allow them to vote by accident. No, this is fraud. ALL FRAUD. And this is just Georgia.
Now, the only line of defense for the fraudsters is to try and ignore that a suit has been filed.
Biden DID NOT WIN.
@old guy: Indeed. She’d serve the Democrat’s needs perfectly.