Macon mayor candidate who lost race files lawsuit, wants courts to vacate outcome
Shekita Maxwell, the candidate who lost the election against incumbent Mayor Lester Miller last month, has filed a lawsuit asking a judge to vacate the decision. She alleges the election was compromised by the mayor and his “co-conspirators.”
Maxwell, who is representing herself, filed the lawsuit against the Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections and Miller. She alleges that there was “illegal vote dilution” in the May 21 election, according to the lawsuit. Maxwell lost the race by more than 70 percentage points, according to official election results from the Georgia secretary of state. She received 2,712 votes.
Alleging she is the candidate of choice for Black and female voters, which she says is the demographic that comprised the majority of voters during the Macon election, Maxwell also argued that election integrity was compromised because of a local cyber security breach that has significantly hampered county web operations.
The cyber issues have affected Macon-Bibb government operations for weeks, including some aspects of the county’s board of elections. But there has not been any information released to confirm election outcomes were affected.
Local government: Claims ‘frivolous’
Tom Gillon, the elections officer for the board, told The Telegraph that he was made aware of the lawsuit against the board of elections and the mayor and is having legal professionals handle it.
“We will fully defend the county’s interest, especially against the frivolous claim based on false concerns previously used to gain attention,” said Chris Floore, chief communications officer for Macon. “The outcome of the election was obvious, and it is appalling and upsetting the county taxpayers will have to fund this process.”
Maxwell says in her lawsuit she’s seeking to “maintain election integrity,” vacate the certification of the election results and “prevent irreparable harm” before a court is able to hear her case.
Maxwell also argued in her lawsuit that discriminatory practices, a lack of disability-accessible voting options and incorrect ballots in districts that feature many Black constituents caused election problems.
The NAACP’s Macon-Bibb County Chapter, as well as disabled voters, have expressed concern with the voting location where the Board of Elections office is located, which is at Macon Mall. Additionally, the Georgia NAACP did hold a press conference raising concern about ballot mix-ups that left some voters casting ballots for the wrong county commission races. Elections officials have acknowledged the issues, but the race for mayor was the same for all of Macon, and there haven’t been indications that the mayoral race was affected.
Maxwell argued in her lawsuit that the incidents left Black voters in a majority-minority city without an equal opportunity to participate in the political process.
In her suit, Maxwell alleged that the board of elections’ response to issues in the May election was insufficient and showed officials weren’t responsive to the community. The results of the May election were certified on May 24.
Maxwell said she and Macon voters would “suffer irreparable injury” if an injunction wasn’t enacted by a judge to challenge the results of the May race. She alleged that Miller and conspirators compromised the outcomes of the election, and alleges she was in the lead of the race as early votes were counted.
“There is more to democracy than free and fair elections, but there can be no democracy without them,” said Maxwell in her lawsuit. “Constant vigilance is required to protect this foundational component of political freedom from the threats arrayed against it.”
Maxwell wants a judge to issue an injunction on the outcome of the election, vacate the results of the race and hold another election for mayor in November. She argues the decision wouldn’t harm the county because they could put the race on November’s Election Day ballots.
