Mary Norwood asked the Fulton County Board of Registration and Elections Wednesday to cut her a break.

The former Atlanta City councilwoman wants to run as an independent  in the election for chair of the Fulton County commission. However, she missed her candidacy filing deadline last Friday by four hours and forty minutes.

In a letter, Balch & Bingham lawyer  J. Matthew Maguire Jr., citing court precedents from Texas to South Carolina, formally asked that the board exercise its "discretion to accept Norwood's notice of candidacy."

Maguire asked that the board to qualify Norwood by Thursday. He got his answer Wednesday.  She was out of luck.

"Our Board does not have the power or discretion to ignore the Georgia Election Code, "wrote board Chairman Roderick Edmond. " Any legal argument you want to make regarding its unconstitutionality would need to be addressed to the courts."

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Ja’Quon Stembridge, shown here in July at the Henry County Republican Party monthly meeting, recently stepped from his position with the Georgia GOP. (Jenni Girtman for the AJC)

Credit: Jenni Girtman