Fulton County GOP moves to block county commissioners from replacing election board official

The Fulton County Republican Party has filed a temporary restraining order against the county Board of Commissioners to prevent them from filling a vacancy on the elections board that isn’t the party’s nominee.

Last month, the commissioners voted 5-2 to not appoint Jason Frazier, one of the two nominees that the county GOP chose for Fulton's Board of Registration and Elections.

The county Republican Party believes the board rejected Frazier for challenging voter rolls, and is suing the commissioners for allegedly violating county law by not appointing the party’s nominee.

The board appointed the county Democratic Party’s two nominees and the other Republican nominee.

The board members serve a two-year term, the most recent of which ended on June 30. The new term began July 1.

On July 6, a Fulton County Superior Court judge declined to issue a temporary restraining order submitted by the Fulton County GOP to keep the county's Board of Commissioners from filling a seat on the elections board. The court sided with the defendants, who argued there wasn’t a vacancy on the elections board because they kept a Republican holdover on, whose term had expired on June 30.

The Republican holdover, Mark Wingate, had been asked by the county counsel on the evening of July 5, the day before the court hearing, to sign an affidavit saying he would stay on the elections board, which he did.

However, Wingate has significant health issues and told the elections board chairwoman on July 14 that he would be leaving the board, according to an affidavit he signed on July 27.

As a result, the Fulton County GOP is requesting that the Board of Commissioners be prevented from filling Wingate's seat with someone of their own choice, rather than the party’s nominee.

According to an email sent to Wingate by elections board chairwoman Patrise Perkins-Hooker, "the Board of Commissioners will have the power to appoint a successor for you as an interim appointment."

Plaintiff's attorney David Oles told Just the News on Friday that the board didn’t give the Fulton County GOP any "assurance" that they intended to not fill Wingate’s seat.

Fulton County GOP Chairwoman Stephanie Endres also told Just the News that, "at the end of day, the Republican Party wants to ensure that rights are preserved, and the process occurs as it should legally," noting that it is "unfortunate that we have to go down this path."

The Fulton County Department of Registration and Elections didn't immediately respond to a request for comment on Friday.