Thursday, May 16, 2024

DeKalb GA Ballot 5-17-24

The Sample Ballot for the May 21, 2024 Dekalb County Georgia election of county officials and judges.

Electing Judges is tricky. You won’t be able to separate the Republicans from the Democrats. They all claim to be unaffiliated from political parties. The other problem is that 82% of all Law Professors in the US are Democrats.  But voting in the South, with a history of Republican Governors it’s not hard to assume that many Georgia Judges are not Democrats. I googled the candidates for Supreme Court and Appeals Court and bolded those I guessed would follow the US Constitution. You have to google the candidates you are interested in. 

Supreme Court Judge: Michael E Boggs, John D Ellington, Andrew Pinson v John Barrow.

Appeals Court Judge: Stephen Dillard, Ken Hodges, Ben Land, Amanda Mercier, Jeff Davis v Tabitha Ponder, Brian Rickman, Jeffrey A Watkins,

Superior Court: Gregory A Adams, Tangela Barrie, Stacey Hydrick, Brian E Lake, Shondeana Crews Morris,

Yolanda Parker Smith, Nora Polk.

State Court: Mecca Anderson v Yolanda Mack v Dionne McGee, Mike Jacobs, TyShawn Yvonne Jackson, Ana Maria Martinez, Keisha Story, Brian K Ross, Charles E Bailey, Ronald B Ramsey Sr.,

Probate Court: Bedelia Hargrove, 

I bolded the candidates I know.

Board of Education: Dist 1 Austin McDonald v Andrew Ziffer, Dist 3 Dierdie Pierce v Deidra Wright, Dist 5 Telessa Ammons v Manus B Caldwall Jr, v Tiffany Tate Hogan v Donna Priest Brown. Dist 7 Awet Eyasu,

City of Atlanta Sales Tax to reimpose a 1 cent sales tax for 16 quarters to fund the $1.1B for Water and Sewer projects.

US House: Dist 4 Eugene Yu, Dist 5 John Salvesen, Dist 13 Jonathan Chaves v Johsie Cruz Fletcher,

GA Senate: Dist 10 Furquan Stafford, Dist 40 Amelia K Siamomua, Dist 41 Jeff Newlin, Dist 55 Mary Williams Benefield.

GA House: Dist 52 Robert Brandon McNeily, Dist 80 Brian Anderson, Dist 83 Catherine Bernard, Dist 86 Barry Zisholtz, Dist 88 Willian Park Freeman, Dist 101 Kendra Biegalski, Dist 116 Reign Stevens.

There are questions posed on this ballot to give feedback to the Georgia Legislature.

I added my opinion in bold

Republican Posed Questions

- 1 - For future elections, do you want hand marked paper ballots, scanned and verified by hand count on live stream video?  I would use paper ballots until the voting machines are safe.

- 2 - Should the legislature enact the FairTax replacing the state income tax and state sales tax with a consumption tax equal to current state funding and taxing no legal citizen or family up to the poverty level of spending?  No

- 3 - Should the legislature ban registered lobbyists from serving on the State Elections Board? Yes

- 4 - Should the Georgia Republican Primary have a closed primary, meaning that only registered Republicans would be allowed to vote in the Republican Primary? Yes

- 5 - Should public officials who allow illegal migration to occur be held responsible for crimes committed by illegal aliens?  No, they should be fired by the Governor.

- 6 - Would you support a statewide vote to allow gaming in Georgia so the voters can decide this issue instead of politicians in Atlanta?  No

- 7 - Currently, hundreds of thousands of hours and dollars are spent every year cleaning up voter rolls. Would you support an amendment to the National Voting Rights Act that would require registered voters to renew their registration every four years?  No, I would use AI to verify live US Citizen voters in their districts.

- 8 - Do you believe unelected and unaccountable international bureaucrats, like the UN controlled World Health Organization (WHO), should have complete control over management of future pandemics in the United States and authority to regulate your healthcare and personal health choices?  No

Republican County Posed Questions

9. In view of Georgia's $15 billion surplus, do you support eliminating the state income tax? No, I would support ending Bond sales to fund projects.

10. Do you advocate for education choice by parents, including vouchers for private schools, charter schools, and homeschooling? Yes

11.Do you support new legislation to require term limits at the state and federal levels? Yes, if we also stop outside money and restrict campaign contributions to voters only.

12. Do you believe that all non-citizens entering the United States should cross our border legally, and all those who have crossed illegally should be removed from the country? Yes, especially for those who entered from 2021 to 2024.

13. Is it time to use a temporary hold on immigration to the U.S. until we complete our border security goals? Yes.

14. Do you support conducting voting with hand-marked paper ballots, counted manually at precincts, with those numbers transmitted directly to the Secretary of State for tallying? Yes, until AI can speed the process. AI software can connect current post office addresses, death certificates, drivers license holders, current prison populations and ICE databases.

15. Should Republican Voters take control of their Primaries by passing legislation for Closed Primaries in Georgia? Yes

16. Should Republican officials who fail to adhere to the Republican Party platform be required to run as Independents or members of other parties in future elections? Yes

17. Do you support the creation of special zones with increased taxes for funding county development projects? No

18. Will you visit DeKalbGOP.org for current and specifically local information about politics, and to organize with other Republican Citizens near you? No, I’ve already done that.

State Democrat Posed Questions

1 Should the United States and the State of Georgia protect Georgians from gun violence by banning assault weapons and large-capacity magazines, closing background check loopholes, and passing other common-sense gun safety reforms?  No

2 Should the State of Georgia incentivize clean energy production as part of a climate policy that recognizes the urgent threat that climate change poses to Georgians' health, lives and future? No

3 Should the State of Georgia expand voter access by allowing same-day voter registration, removing obstacles to voting by mail, and making secure ballot drop boxes accessible at all times through Election Day? No

4 Should the State of Georgia protect reproductive freedom by repealing the current six-week abortion ban, restoring the protections of Roe v. Wade and ensuring access to contraceptives, IVF, abortion and other reproductive health care? No

5 Should the State of Georgia stop using taxpayer dollars intended for public education to pay for private school vouchers? No. Public schools need to get better scores on reading, writing and math.

6 Should the State of Georgia raise the minimum wage to a living wage? No. $7.25 is a good starting rate for Teenagers. Adults make more than that without setting a minimum wage.

7 Should the portion of the Georgia state constitution allowing for involuntary servitude of prisoners and others convicted of offenses be repealed, thus prohibiting all forms of slavery and involuntary servitude statewide? No

8 Should the State of Georgia improve access to safe, affordable housing by increasing the affordable housing supply, protecting tenants' rights to habitable living conditions, and cracking down on negligence or abuse by property management companies or landlords? No

9 Should Georgia’s $11 billion surplus be used to invest in healthcare by fully expanding Medicaid? No

10 Should all Georgians have equal access to contraception and in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatment? No

11 Should Georgia restore access to abortion care past the current 6-week ban? No

12 Should Georgia impose limits on companies and institutional investors buying single-family homes? Yes. I would include limits on city and county governments seizing property for unnecessary 12 foot Multiuse sidewalks and excessive parks.

13 Should Georgia allow sports betting in the state and use those funds for educational scholarships? No. This leads to paying players to loose games.

14 Should districts in Georgia be drawn independent of the state legislature? No

15 Should DeKalb expand residential zoning options to include cottages, triplexes, and more dense housing options? No

16 Should the state of Georgia ban assault weapons? No. The 2nd Amendment bans banning.

https://www.dekalbcountyga.gov/sites/default/files/users/user3597/24%20General%20Primary%20Composite%20Sample%20Ballot_0.pdf

Comments

When I finally found a sample ballot for the May 21, 2024 election, I was stunned that there were tons of questions. It makes filling out a ballot unwieldy, but its a good way to get a poll. I requires that we have an advanced look at the ballot before we enter the precinct doors.

For Democrats, Banning weapons would require an amendment to the 2nd Amendment. The Legislature will eventually need to put the Georgia Abortion Law on the Ballot.

For Republicans, I put my Bold comments in place.

I would recommend passing a Georgia Law that restricts campaign contributions to voters only and further restrict it to candidates who are on their ballot. I would also require all candidates to have websites with their complete resumes and positions on issues as a condition for filing. I would limit contributions to $1000. Candidates would be allowed to fund their own campaigns. The cost of elections would be drastically reduced, but all Georgia candidates would be in the same boat. There would be money for websites, travel and meetings, but not enough for TV ads.

The Georgia Legislature should redesign their Income Tax Form 500 to reduce it from 28 pages to 4 pages plus a supplement to list all the contributions. They also need to make it impossible for Property Title theft and Squatting. They would be wise to copy most of the changes made in Florida.

https://www.dekalbcountyga.gov/sites/default/files/users/user3597/24%20General%20Primary%20Composite%20Sample%20Ballot_0.pdf

Soros donated $28 million to Democrats in 2020.

Norb Leahy, Dunwoody GA Tea Party Leader

 

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