Voters file federal lawsuit to force election for GA Supreme Court seat

Three voters, including the widow of a Georgia Supreme Court justice, filed a federal lawsuit Tuesday seeking to force an election for Justice Keith Blackwell’s seat when he retires in November.

Original story by By Bill Rankin, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution

The plaintiffs in the case are Anne Glenn Weltner, whose husband Charles Weltner served as a member of the high court from 1981 until his death in 1992; Francys Johnson, a civil rights lawyer from Statesboro who was director of the NAACP’s Southeast Region; and Laura Register, a South Georgia political activist.

“The only purpose served by cancelling an election when there is no actual vacancy is to avoid an election — that is, to disenfranchise voters.”

Read the full story here.