Judge strikes down DeKalb election law
A judge has ruled that a state law requiring a special election to replace DeKalb County's tax commissioner is unconstitutional.
The decision is a victory for DeKalb Tax Commissioner Irvin Johnson, who had argued in a lawsuit that he shouldn't have had to run in a special election to finish the term of Claudia Lawson, who retired Dec. 31.
Johnson won the special election anyway in a July runoff against attorney Susannah Scott.
But in the future, the chief deputy tax commissioner will take over the tax office until the next regularly scheduled election.
About the Author
Mark Niesse is an enterprise reporter and covers elections and Georgia government for The Atlanta Journal-Constitution and is considered an expert on elections and voting. Before joining the AJC, he worked for The Associated Press in Atlanta, Honolulu and Montgomery, Alabama. He also reported for The Daily Report and The Santiago Times in Chile.
