Elaine Brown Loses Lawsuit

On October 31, a lower state court in Georgia ruled that Elaine Brown (Green Party candidate for Mayor of Brunswick, Georgia) should not be on the ballot next week. Elaine Brown v Glynn Co. Board of Elections, 05-1597-63.


Comments

Elaine Brown Loses Lawsuit — 10 Comments

  1. As expected. She can now take it to the Georgia Supreme Court and then to the US Supreme Court but the outcome will be the same. The election is next week.

  2. If the Green Party in Georgia can, it should try to get Brown on the ballot next year for the state house, state senate, or for a statewide office. I am not sure if the Green Party is really organized well enough in Georgia to get such ballot access. The only Greens I have come across in Georgia are a few fellow students I went to college with.

  3. Question:

    Elaine Brown has no trouble mentioning in her campaign that she was the President of the Black Panthers and people need to accept it and respect. I ask you what kind of acceptance and respect would we be hearing if another candidate running against her was claiming to be a card carrying or Imperial Grand Dragon in the KKK? Just a question about equal rights since many feel the Black Panthers and the KKK have the same attitude, just different colors.

  4. A friendly and perfectly reasonable question.
    In my not very humble opinion, her previous associations and current associations and, much more important, her philosophy of government should be enough to prevent reasonable people from voting for her.
    But none of it is enough to preclude her from the ballot.

  5. Today is the day after the elections. After months of words, campaigning, legal actions, court room drama, death threats, marches in the streets, heated exchanges, 5 day 24 hour candle prayer vigil and yes even violence; the citizens of the City Of Brunswick finally got the chance to voice their opinion and their feelings toward Elaine Brown by exercising their right to vote and loudly saying NO to Elaine Brown as Mayor of Brunswick.

    After the polls closed and the votes were counted, Bryan Thompson won the Mayoral seat with 63.84%. Otis Herrington, the only other black Mayoral Candidate besides Elaine Brown received 17.15% of the votes. Out of the over 16,000 residents that live in the City Of Brunswick, Elaine Brown received almost 1.5%. What that tells me is 98.5% of the residents said NO to Elaine Brown as their Mayor.

    Elaine Brown has already told the press that she will contest the election. To me, when Elaine Brown continues to claim she is the People’s Mayor, maybe one day she will realize that 98.5% of the people spoke, NO SHOUTED, that they do not want her as their Mayor.

    But Elaine Brown does have a right to continue filing complaint after complaint in court and by the looks of things this legal battle may go on for months if not years.

  6. Dear Brunswick Voter:

    I live here too, and I never heard of any death threats or violence. Not sure where you are getting your information.

    Faced with the prospect of a progressive black woman becoming mayor was way too much for those that want to tear this city apart and repeat the historical nation-wide dispossession of those living at or below the poverty level.

    Let me remind you that 70% of the residents are black and do not want to suffer the consequences of redevelopment and gentrification because these plans certainly don’t include THEM.

    Please note that out of 16,000 residents, only approximately 7,500 are REGISTERED VOTERS. So, your 98.5% is dead wrong.

    In case you had not been following the campaign, the Glynn County Board of Elections disqualified her as a candidate and voter on October 14th. This was done with no evidence and was in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the U.S. Constitution, and the Official Code of Georgia.

    The decision came after 5 p.m. and without taking a vote of the Board, it was decided they would remove Brown from the ballot. They had the ballots reprinted over the weekend in time to send out the Absentee Ballot on Oct. 18.

    The opposition, including power brokers and developers from Sea Island and beyond continued with their “plan to get Brown off the ballot” when Senior Superior Court Judge Pope upheld the Board’s decision.

    Without a name on the ballot and newspaper coverage that votes for her would not count, voters were disenfranchised.

    One day before the election, Brown filed a petition in federal court. Judge Alaimo ruled that the Board had to preserve a record of her write-ins pending a trial on the merits of her case.

    The Board of Elections was not expecting this and voiced their opinions in print.

    On Election Day, Brown’s name was not on the list of write-ins.

    So this “illusion of democracy” you obviously are touting is bullshit.

    Poll Watchers have already reported misconduct at every city precinct and the election will probably be contested based on this, while Brown pursues her case in the courts.

    When the law is selectively used by local election boards, judges, state election divisions, and any others—you have the right to seek justice in all courts, including the federal Supreme Court.

    So, if you are dismayed that Brown is exercising her rights and continuing her case in the courts, then I suggest you think again.

    None of us should be content with this “managed democracy.”

  7. FRIENDS OF ELAINE BROWN FOR MAYOR
    139 Altama Connector, #107
    Brunswick, Georgia 31525

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASENovember 10, 2005
    CONTACT: 912-262-9811

    THE FIGHT CONTINUES!

    Even though the racist, Republican-backed opposition to Elaine Brown’s campaign for mayor of Brunswick, Georgia, succeeded in removing her name from the November 8th ballot–AND taking away her right to vote!—a federal court judge, at the 11th hour, on November 7th, ruled the local Board of Elections had to count her votes! IN OTHER WORDS, ELAINE HAD ONLY HOURS TO MOUNT ANOTHER CAMPAIGN TO CONVINCE BLACKS THEIR VOTES FOR HER WOULD NOW BE COUNTED.

    By then, of course, the majority black population of Brunswick, slated to vote for Elaine and make her the City’s first black mayor, had already sat out the five-day advance voting period and really didn’t know or believe they could vote for Elaine on Election Day. Her name was still not on the ballot. So, black voter turnout was low, and the Republican-backed candidate was declared the winner.

    ELAINE IS GOING BACK TO FEDERAL COURT! She will

    · challenge the election results
    · contest the election on grounds of gross
    misconduct and fraud
    · get her name back on the voter rolls
    · demand a new and fair election

    ELAINE’S CAMPAIGN STILL NEEDS YOUR HELP!

    Contributions can be sent electronically via Elaine’s Website, http://www.elainebrown.org, or by mail to: Friends of Elaine Brown for Mayor, 139 Altama Connector, #107, Brunswick, Georgia 31525. For more information, call: 912-262-9811.

    # # # # #

  8. Friends of Elaine Brown for Mayor
    of Brunswick, Georgia
    139 Altama Connector, #107
    Brunswick, Georgia 31525
    912-262-9811 (Telephone)
    912-262-9813 (Facsimile)

    FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE November 17, 2005
    CONTACT: Cathy Browning, 912-996-6523

    (Brunswick, Georgia)

    MAYORAL ELECTION TO BE CONTESTED

    Former candidate for mayor Elaine Brown has filed a Petition in Glynn County Superior Court contesting the result of the mayoral election of November 8, 2005. The Affidavits of poll watchers and monitors attest to misconduct, fraud and irregularity in the conduct of the election and place the results in doubt.
    Brown states that despite the Order by U.S. District Court Judge Anthony Alaimo, the Glynn County Board of Elections did not “preserve and tally” her write-in votes. Brown also charges that her name was illegally removed from the ballot. She has notified the two other mayoral candidates, Betsy Bean and Otis Herrington, of her contest of the election.

    Bryan Thompson Ineligible to Hold Office

    Relatedly, Brunswick activist Zack Lyde filed an additional contest on the same grounds as Brown.
    Brown also contests the election on the grounds that Bryan Thompson is not eligible to hold office because he is CEO of Blueprint Brunswick, Inc., which receives City funding. Under the legal doctrine of “incompatible offices,” it is illegal for a person to be an official of a government that funds his own company.

    # # # # #

  9. Friends of Brunswick
    PO Box 1776
    Brunswick, GA 31521

    December 10, 2005

    Elaine Brown being Counter-Sued

    Elaine Brown, the former and only female leader of the Black Panther Party, wanted to be Mayor of Brunswick, Georgia. Before the election a challenge was filed to the candidacy of Elaine Brown. A hearing was held and evidence presented established that Elaine Brown DID NOT meet the legal requirements to run for Mayor.

    Elaine Brown has since filed appeal after appeal and filed other lawsuits challenging the Nov 8 Election results citing many violations and other reasons she cites in her lawsuits.

    Now, the first COUNTER-SUIT has been filed against Elaine Brown seeking damages and legal fees.

    This is a copy of the news report from The Brunswick News, Friday, December 9, 2005 on Page 2-A

    Mayoral election back in court
    The Brunswick News
    Brunswick, Georgia

    The two Brunswick residents who successfully petitioned to get Elaine brown off the mayoral ballot in the Nov 8 city election are now counter-suing her.

    Brown has challenged the Glynn County Board of Elections ruling that removed her from the ballot in both Superior Court and U.S. District Court.

    In their lawsuit filed Wednesday, Howard Buie and Alice Norman seek restitution of their legal fees for defending themselves during Brown’s hearings.

    A hearing on Brown’s lawsuit contesting the results of last month’s election and a request for a new election will be held Dec 19 in Glynn County Superior Court.

    A hearing date has not been set for the counter-suit.

Leave a Reply to Cathy Browning

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.