Hi, I am Cshanyse Allen, President of Inner East Athens Neighbors Associaition, Inc., and we are without representation in our District 2, Athens GA. Our Commissioner QUITand walked away from the people. We have started a fund to assist us as we work to give a voice to our community. District 2 is the largest minority district in Athens, GA. Our right to representation has been taken away from us. We have tried to talk to our County Commissioners and Board of Election representatives to hold the Special Election, on November 8th, 2022. A Special Election was granted by Gov. Kemp to fill our vacant commissioner D2 seat. Our Mayor and commissioners worked to have that opportunity stripped from the residents of District 2 and force the hand of the BOE to hold the Special Election on March 2023 instead of November 8, 2022. The BOE vote was tied 2-2 and the BOE Chair broke the tie 3-2 to hold the election in March 2023. This vote has disenfranchised the residents of district 2. With the latest developments, we have been forced to litigate this situation. I have shared our press release below. If you could assist us in our quest for representation, by making a donation of any amount, we would greatly appreciate it. No amount is too small.

#FightingforthePeople

Press Release on October 4, 2022

A group of Athens-Clarke County District 2 Voters and Inner East Athens, Incorporated filed a Writ of Mandamus in the Clarke County Superior Court today asking the Court to order the Athens Clarke County Board of Elections to call for a Special Election on November 8, 2022, to replace former Commissioner Mariah Parker. The Plaintiffs delivered a Notice of Suit on October 1, 2022, asking the Board of Elections to reverse its decision to have the Special Election on March 21, 20223. The Special Election was mandated by Governor Brian Kemp after he accepted the resignation of Parker on September 8, 2022. The group has asked the Court for an Emergency Hearing. The group will protest during the October 4, 2022, meeting of the Clarke County Board of Commissioners and deliver a copy of the complaint that is being filed.

“Good evening I am Dr. Cshanyse Allen, President of Inner East Athens, Incorporated. We are here tonight to deliver a copy of the legal action we filed in court today. We tried to resolve this issue without litigation but is clear that the BOE has decided to disenfranchise the voters of District 2. Their decision to ignore our notice of suit and force litigation is a clear indicator that the BOE has bowed down to political pressure to delay the Special Election to allow a candidate of their choice to qualify under the new district maps.

District 2 deserves the right to be represented and we cannot allow the BOE or the County

Commission to work together to disenfranchise us. If the BOE had simply moved forward with the November 8 Special Election, we would not be standing before you tonight. We sat in disgust yesterday as BOE Chair Rocky Rafflee, a Democrat, ignored our concerns and turned his back on the gains of Democracy we have seen since the passage of the 1965 Voting Rights Act. If Republicans were trying to pull these shenanigans, we would be up in arms. Therefore, in the words of the late Honorable Congressman John Lewis, we knew it was time to get into some good trouble. Therefore, we implore you to send a new resolution to the BOE supporting a November 8, 2022, Special Election. If not, our next stop will be the Governor’s Mansion where will ask him to appoint a District 2 Commissioner to replace Mariah Parker. If he appoints a Republican, we will live with that, but we will not live with being unrepresented.”

The Writ of Mandamus was filed by Attorney Dexter M. Wimbish, a judge and civil rights activist with nearly thirty (30) years of working with community-based organizations to demand justice and equality. “Litigation is always the last course of action, but we cannot sit idly by when democracy is threatened. The ability of voters to elect a representative and have that representative serve their interest is a bedrock of democracy. We are in an age where partisan politics is destroying our country and we have to hold all parties accountable for actions that disenfranchise voters, especially women and women of color,” stated Wimbish.