(C) Georgia Recorder
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Fulton County judge indicates he will likely uphold decision to remove PSC candidate from ballot • Georgia Recorder [1]
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Date: 2025-06-11
Georgia polling stations could soon have signs telling voters that a Democratic candidate for the Georgia Public Service Commission may appear on the ballot but is disqualified.
Fulton County Superior Court Judge Ural Glanville is likely to officially rule Daniel Blackman ineligible from the June 17 Democratic primary for District 3, which includes Fulton, Clayton and DeKalb counties. Blackman was disqualified last month by an administrative law judge and Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger for failing to meet residency requirements.
Glanville ruled from the bench Tuesday, saying the decision to disqualify Blackman “properly considered the petitioner’s failure to update his voter registration until April of 2025.”
A formal ruling is expected from the judge by the end of Wednesday.
If Blackman is officially deemed ineligible, counties across the state will have to post signs warning voters that their votes for Blackman won’t count. Early voting is underway now and ends Friday.
That would leave three other Democrats in the race, including Keisha Sean Waites, a former Atlanta City Council member and Georgia House representative; Peter Hubbard, founder of the Center for Energy Solutions; and Robert Jones, who worked in energy regulation in California.
Blackman had been considered a frontrunner in the race. He served as the Environmental Protection Agency’s Southeast regional administrator under the Biden administration, and he’s a former PSC candidate who came close to winning a seat on the commission back in 2020.
Blackman has remained on the ballot while appealing the May 27 ruling from Administrative Court Judge Dominic Capraro, who concluded that Blackman voting in Forsyth County in the Nov. 5 general election was proof that Blackman was not a legal resident of Fulton County.
The Democratic primary winner will face appointed Republican Commissioner Fitz Johnson in November to fill serve a one-year term. There will be another election in 2026 when Georgians will elect a commissioner for the district to a full six-year term.
State attorneys argued that Blackman’s evidence that he lives in Fulton County was uncorroborated and that there was proof that he continued to live at his family home in Forsyth County.
Under state law, a commission member must live in one of five districts for at least 12 months before an election.
Blackman has said his wife and children remained in Forsyth to finish the school year while he relocated to an Atlanta residence.
Blackman’s attorney Matthew Wilson argued that Blackman met state requirements as a commission candidate, including registering address changes 30 days in advance of an election.
“He told others his intent was to move to Fulton County and remain there for an indefinite period of time, starting October 2024,” Wilson said at Tuesday’s Zoom court hearing.
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https://georgiarecorder.com/2025/06/11/fulton-county-judge-indicates-he-will-likely-uphold-decision-to-remove-psc-candidate-from-ballot/
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