A case in Georgia was dismissed swiftly yesterday dealing a blow to election integrity efforts in the state.
Mike Daugherty, head of The Justice Society, an organization that trains “Davids to beat Goliaths” in legal battles filed a suit in January that argued two Georgia Senate runoff races decided earlier that month should be rerun. His legal claim was electronic voting machines used in the state did not “meet the required GA statutory standards.” Because of that Daugherty argued the election “must be invalidated.”
He was suing to have the races redone using paper ballots. The races, which resulted in two Democrats, Jon Ossoff and Raphael Warnock, defeating two incumbent Republicans, swung the balance of power in the U.S. Senate to Democrats.
Daugherty and his attorneys were opposed by lawyers from Perkins Coie, the infamous Washington, D.C., law firm at a hearing on Monday. Perkins Coie represents the Democratic National Committee.
The argument made by those attorneys was the Doctrine of Laches which says cases have to be filed within a proper statutory time period. Cases filed against the legitimacy of an election must be filed within five days of that election, for example.
PC attorneys argued because the case was filed in January it fell outside of the statutorily acceptable time period. Their argument, in essence, was that the November election and the January runoff elections were two separate events.
Georgia law, however, seems to support Daugherty’s position instead. It clearly states a runoff election shall be considered a “continuation” of the general election from which it stemmed.
Henry County Superior Court Judge Brian Amero found for the defense and dismissed the case after Monday’s hearing.
“The court finds that Senator Ossoff and Senator Warnock have not been properly served. There has not been the due diligence that would be expected under these circumstances in election contests,” Amero said from the bench, announcing his decision.
“Further the court finds this matter is barred by the equitable Doctrine of Latches. This action has not been diligently pursued and particularly in the area of service and process. The case is dismissed,” he added.
“It was faster than a toilet flush. Pretty appalling,” Daugherty posted on Twitter shortly after the decision was announced.
It was faster than a toilet flush. Pretty appalling. https://t.co/lEJ9KdzBZL
— Michael J Daugherty (@DaughertyMJ) July 20, 2021
He remains undaunted, however and vows to appeal the case to the Georgia Supreme Court.
“If [the] United States Judiciary continues to indicate to the public that they don’t want to hear these cases, they will be sending a signal to election fraudsters that laws will not be enforced,” Daugherty told UncoverDC yesterday.
“Cases are not getting tossed out on merit but based on technicalities and standing. This, while the RNC uses this crisis to fundraise yet, stands around doing nothing, letting Trump die on [the] vine because they don’t like him. The Republican establishment is also standing by while lawyers bringing these cases get punished. It’s outrageous behavior. This should not be political; it’s about election transparency and confidence in the system.”
“I founded The Justice Society to teach Americans how to fight. We are fundraising for this case to appeal to the Georgia Supreme Court. This is as much an educational process for the public as it is a case to win. People should not give up. The Justice Society needs support now so that we can continue to ‘Train more Davids to beat Goliaths’ and to fight for what is right,” he added.