Clark Hill Defeats Election Challenge Appealed to Supreme Court of Georgia

The Supreme Court of Georgia ruled on Dec. 10 in favor of Atlanta Member Bryan Tyson’s client, Judge-elect Jeff Davis, in a matter relating to his election for the Georgia Court of Appeals in May.

The Court concluded that Davis’ opponent, Tabitha Ponder, and voter Randolph Frails, did not do everything within their power to have their claims decided before the election, which ended their efforts to undermine the result.

“We’re very pleased with the Supreme Court’s ruling to end these attempts of overturning Judge-elect Davis’ election,” Tyson said. “He earned a convincing election victory, and we’re proud to have helped preserve that result.”

Before the election, Frails asserted that Davis was not qualified to run as a candidate because he is not a Georgia resident. An administrative law judge initially found that Davis failed to prove his residency at the time of filing his declaration of candidacy. But on May 16, the Secretary of State agreed with Davis that he was a resident of Georgia based on his voter’s registration, voting history, and driver’s license, among other evidence.

While Frails filed a petition for judicial review of the Secretary’s decision, he did not seek to stay the election itself, and that Ponder never participated in any pre-election challenge.

“While Frails did file a pre-election challenge to Davis’s qualifications, he never moved to stay the election, chose not to appeal the dismissal of his pre-election challenge, and has not otherwise shown how he has acted with dispatch to resolve his claims before the election took place,” the Court wrote.

“Ponder, like Frails, never sought a stay of the election until the challenges to Davis’s qualifications could be resolved. Indeed, it does not appear that Ponder participated in any pre-election challenge at all, instead waiting until three weeks after she lost the election to file this post-election contest.”

Davis won the May 21 election with 57% of the vote. Frails and Ponder filed the post-election contest on June 11, and the superior court dismissed the claims on Aug. 5 to set the stage for the Supreme Court appeal.

“After many months of trying to keep Judge-elect Davis out of office, we’re satisfied to see this conclude positively for our elected client,” Tyson said. “There’s overwhelming evidence of his Georgia residency, and he’s eager to serve the state.”