By: Jonathan Turley | August 6, 2025
Democrats in Georgia have lost their effort to block two Republican commissioners from sitting on Fulton County’s Board of Elections because of their political views. What is most striking about this effort was not just the raw partisanship but the utter lack of legal authority of Democrats to refuse to recognize the duly selected GOP members.
For months, the board has blocked two Republican nominees: Jason Frazier and Julie Adams. Fulton County Commissioner Marvin Arrington declared that “I think the Republican party ought to take a look at their people and not nominate people that are on the far right and nominate people that are in the center.”
While self-proclaimed defenders of democracy often seem to have no qualms about curtailing democratic choices from ballot cleansing to jurisdiction flight, this is particularly raw and outrageous. There is no law supporting this action and the state law is clear on the need to seat the GOP commissioners. Under the state law, two members are appointed by the Democratic party, two are appointed by the Republican party, and a chairperson is selected by the Fulton Commissioners.
On Monday, Fulton County Superior Court Senior Judge David Emerson crushed the claims by the majority that they possessed a veto over GOP commissioners despite the law saying that the commissioners “shall” be seated. It is difficult to see how any competent lawyer would support this legal claim.
Emerson stated the obvious that the Fulton County Commission did “not have the discretion to disapprove an otherwise qualified nominee.” The court points out that higher courts have repeatedly rejected the argument of the Board that “shall” does not mean “shall.” Instead, they claimed that it is merely “directive” and allows them to choose who the other party will sit on the board.
The frivolous character of the Board position is captured in this line: “The court also notes that the appointment statute contains no provision to support the respondents’ position that it should have the power to veto any given nominee and force the county chairperson to submit other nominees.”
The two challenged commissioners have been denounced as far right or “election deniers” by Democrats. In other words, the commissioners are claiming that they can bar members based on their political views to force the GOP to select commissioners that they consider acceptable. Commissioner Mo Ivory insisted in the board’s meeting that “It’s not possible to work with folks trying to sow discord and chaos”
Judge Emerson had enough, writing that “the lack of these appointments harms the election process and deprives the nominating party of representation on the BOE.”
Here is the order: Fulton County Board of Elections Order
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