ATHENS — Jerry NeSmith was the District 6 Commissioner in Athens and was running for reelection. He died just three days before the June 9 election. In that election, with his name still on the ballot, NeSmith was elected to a third term.
Any time a candidate dies while running, election laws can be murky. Sometimes the position is filled by appointment, sometimes by special election, and sometimes by the next highest vote-getter. In local elections, such as city and county commission posts, legal precedent is difficult to find.
The Athens-Clarke County Board of Elections, looking at Georgia law and legal precedent, decided that while a special election does not need to be held to elect a new commissioner. It has instead declared all votes for NeSmith void and awarded the election to NeSmith’s opponent, Jesse Houle, will serve as the elected District 6 Commissioner.
However, since NeSmith’s term doesn’t expire until January, local law mandates that a special election will be held to fill the remainder of NeSmith’s current term.
TOO MANY ADS? GO AD-FREE
Did You Know?: The ads you see on this site help pay for our website and our work. However, we know some of our readers would rather pay and not see ads. For those users we offer a paid newsletter that contains our articles with no ads.
What You Get: A daily email digest of our articles in full-text with no ads.
The candidate who is elected to serve the remainder of Smith’s term will hold office until January when Houle will begin his term in office.
