(The Center Square) – DeKalb County District Attorney Sherry Boston is suing the state over a law creating nonpartisan elections for five metro Atlanta district attorneys.
The change from partisan to nonpartisan elections for counties with a medical examiner’s office was included in Senate Bill 573. The five counties are Fulton, Clayton, DeKalb, Cobb and Gwinnett. The Senate failed to pass the bill on crossover day.
House Bill 369 by former state Rep. Dexter Sharper, D-Valdosta, regarding food trucks was amended in the Senate to create nonpartisan elections for the five metro Atlanta counties.
The bill includes all county offices, not just district attorneys.
The five district attorneys affected are all Black women and Democrats.
Boston in a release called the law “a calculated move by the Republican-controlled General Assembly to hide candidates’ party affiliations from voters in an attempt to win power in counties where most of the elected positions are held by members of the Democratic Party.”
Republicans said during the bill’s debate that it was about public safety.
“Much has been made and talked about our DAs today but you forgot all the other county elected officials that are there, too,” said Roswell Republican John Albers during the Senate debate. “And the reason we’re doing this is because of that strong consolidated government in order to make it safer.”
The case was filed in Fulton County Superior Court.
