Daniel Blackman’s bid for the Public Service Commission (PSC) District 3 seat may end in a courtroom Tuesday with just a week to go before the June 17 primary election.
Blackman, one of four Democrats in the District 3 primary, was disqualified last month by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for failing to meet the residency requirement. The primary winner will face Republican incumbent Fiz Johnson in November.
At issue is whether Blackman moved from Forsyth to Fulton County in time––at least one full year before the election––as required by law. District 3 includes Clayton, DeKalb, and Fulton counties, though PSC candidates are elected statewide.
Blackman’s appeal landed in the hands of Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville — a name familiar to those who followed the Young Thug RICO cases. Glanville set a hearing for 1 p.m. on June 10.
If Blackman loses his appeal, he has a final option: taking the case to the Supreme Court of Georgia. After that his candidacy would officially end.
In comments to Atlanta Civic Circle after filing his appeal, Blackman maintained his eligibility, asserting, “the evidence is on my side” and that he will “respect” the judicial process.
A timeline of Blackman’s candidacy:
April 15 — Atlanta-Journal Constitution reports Blackman changed his voter registration to Fulton County one day before the qualification deadline.
May 16 — Atlanta resident Rodney Stephens files a candidacy challenge against Blackman
May 27 — Administrative Judge Dominic Capraro rules Blackman is not qualified on first day of early voting
May 28 — Secretary of State Raffensperger upholds Capraro’s ruling
May 29 — Blackman appeals Raffensperger’s decision. Judge Ural Glanville stays the disqualification pending a June 10 hearing.
What about the votes?
Early voting is already underway — so what happens to those votes cast for Blackman if he’s disqualified?
“They get counted, but they do not count,” said Mike Hassinger, a spokesman for the Secretary of State’s office. Meaning once the vote totals come in after polls close on election day, you’ll know how many votes were for Blackman by subtracting the totals of his District 3 primary competitors from the total number of ballots cast in that primary. “It’s as if the voter left it blank.”
As of Monday morning, the Secretary of State’s office reported 22,068 votes cast in the Democratic primary. Early voting ends June 13. Election Day is June 17.
For more on the PSC
- Read our explainer on what’s at stake for the PSC elections.
- Read our coverage of the PSC candidate forum on May 27.
