The case was set for Dec 1 and Elaine Brown won her motion for a continuance until Dec 19. Now that Dec 19 is next week, the word around Brunswick is that Elaine Brown and Zack Lyde decided at the last minute to drop their contests of election lawsuit. Yes they both filed a lawsuit.

The truth of the matter won out. Elaine Brown was not a legal resident of Brunswick for at least 12 months and could not run for office. Otherwise she would of continued to fight this case if she felt in her heart that she was within the law.

Is the matter done? Only Elaine Brown and her friends know.

A counter suit against Elaine Brown is still pending.

December 10, 2005

Elaine Brown being Counter-Sued

Elaine Brown, the former and only female leader of the Black Panther Party, wanted to be Mayor of Brunswick, Georgia. Before the election a challenge was filed to the candidacy of Elaine Brown. A hearing was held and evidence presented established that Elaine Brown DID NOT meet the legal requirements to run for Mayor.

Elaine Brown has since filed appeal after appeal and filed other lawsuits challenging the Nov 8 Election results citing many violations and other reasons she cites in her lawsuits.

Now, the first COUNTER-SUIT has been filed against Elaine Brown seeking damages and legal fees.

This is a copy of the news report from The Brunswick News, Friday, December 9, 2005 on Page 2-A

Mayoral election back in court
The Brunswick News
Brunswick, Georgia

The two Brunswick residents who successfully petitioned to get Elaine brown off the mayoral ballot in the Nov 8 city election are now counter-suing her.

Brown has challenged the Glynn County Board of Elections ruling that removed her from the ballot in both Superior Court and U.S. District Court.

In their lawsuit filed Wednesday, Howard Buie and Alice Norman seek restitution of their legal fees for defending themselves during Brown’s hearings.

A hearing on Brown’s lawsuit contesting the results of last month’s election and a request for a new election will be held Dec 19 in Glynn County Superior Court.

A hearing date has not been set for the counter-suit.

The Glynn County Board of Elections, the State Elections Division and a Superior Court judge are guilty of using the law selectively to their own benefit.

What recourse does any citizen have when this happens?

Even a sitting City Commissioner was seen by an Election Monitor IN THE BOARD OF ELECTIONS OFFICE altering his Nomination Petitions and turning them in late.

The Board of Elections chose to compare the timeliness to that of a voter precinct law that says once you are in the door you are allowed to vote ! This law has NOTHING to do with the Guidelines for Nomination Petitions. Yet, it was used to uphold the Board’s decision.

Faced with the prospect of charges of writing on a petition, the Board and the Commissioner came up with the story that he was only filling in the name of the election official and county in the UPPER PORTION, which is SPECIFICALLY referred to in O.C.G.A. Section 21-2-170(d):

“A nomination petition shall…The upper portion of each sheet, prior to being signed by any petitioner, shall bear the name and title of the officer with whom the petition will be filed….”

O.C.G.A. goes on to say that if requirements under Section 21-2-170 are not met that a Nomination Petition is invalid.

What part of all this isn’t clear ?

The Board referred to the illegal writing as “Housekeeping” The court agreed ? What good is a law if it’s going to be minimized like this?

Shame on Brunswick and shame on Georgia !

Suit seeks to null vote

Sat, Nov 19, 2005

Ousted mayoral candidate goes to state court

By KEITH LAING

The Brunswick News

Brunswick mayor-elect Bryan Thompson was able to fend off opponents Otis Herrington and Betsy Bean in last week’s municipal election, but he is still being challenged by Elaine Brown.

Brown, a mayoral candidate until the Glynn County Board of Elections removed her from the ballot because she did not meet a one-year residency requirement, has filed suit in Glynn County Superior Court, contesting the results of the Nov. 8 vote and asking that a new election be held.

Brown based her request on her claims that Thompson, as president of the non-profit development group Blueprint Brunswick which has received money from the city, holds an incompatible office and that the elections board improperly removed her from the ballot.

Zack Lyde, a supporter of Brown’s failed campaign, filed a similar action.

Elections board chair Patricia Gibson said Friday she is confident the results of the election will stand, while Brown said that although she was not sure how a court would rule, but felt compelled to make her case.

“I’m not sure how far it will go, but there are a lot of people in despair (over the election result), so I want to let the challenge play itself out,” she said.

Brown, a former national president of the Black Panther party, reiterated her claim that Thompson cannot be both mayor and Blueprint Brunswick president because the organization received initial funding from the county and city and because it reserves positions on its board of directors for the mayor and the chair of the county commission.

Thompson declined to comment Friday on Brown’s action, but has previously said through his attorney that there is no conflict between his public and private roles because Blueprint Brunswick is a non-govermental agency and the mayor can appoint another commissioner to its board of directors.

The debate on whether of not the positions conflict is not new. It became an issue in the hotly contested mayoral race, with both Brown and Bean raising it regularly at candidate forums. In September, Bean challenged Thompson’s qualification by the elections board to be a candidate, but the board found that no conflict existed.

Thompson’s attorney, Austin Catts, said that the fact that ruling was not challenged should have been sufficient in answering it.

“The issue has been fully heard by the board of elections and no challenge had been made,” he said. “I realize that Ms. Brown was not party to it, but the issue has been fully aired.”

Catts pointed to Thompson’s margin of victory as evidence of his qualification to hold the mayoral position.

“The voters of Brunswick have elected Mr. Thompson by a sweeping majority, (so) we believe this challenge has no merit,” he said Friday of the action Brown filed Tuesday.

Thompson received nearly 64 percent of the more than 1,900 votes cast in the citywide election.

No date has been set for a hearing or ruling on Brown’s challenge.

I live here too, and I never heard of any death threats or violence. Not sure where you are getting your information.

Faced with the prospect of a progressive black woman becoming mayor was way too much for those that want to tear this city apart and repeat the historical nation-wide dispossession of those living at or below the poverty level.

Let me remind you that 70% of the residents are black and do not want to suffer the consequences of redevelopment and gentrification because these plans certainly don’t include THEM.

Please note that out of 16,000 residents, only approximately 7,500 are REGISTERED VOTERS. So, your 98.5% is dead wrong.

In case you had not been following the campaign, the Glynn County Board of Elections disqualified her as a candidate and voter on October 14th. This was done with no evidence and was in violation of the Voting Rights Act of 1965, the U.S. Constitution, and the Official Code of Georgia.

The decision came after 5 p.m. and without taking a vote of the Board, it was decided they would remove Brown from the ballot. They had the ballots reprinted over the weekend in time to send out the Absentee Ballot on Oct. 18.

The opposition, including power brokers and developers from Sea Island and beyond continued with their “plan to get Brown off the ballot” when Senior Superior Court Judge Pope upheld the Board’s decision.

Without a name on the ballot and newspaper coverage that votes for her would not count, voters were disenfranchised.

One day before the election, Brown filed a petition in federal court. Judge Alaimo ruled that the Board had to preserve a record of her write-ins pending a trial on the merits of her case.

The Board of Elections was not expecting this and voiced their opinions in print.

On Election Day, Brown’s name was not on the list of write-ins.

So this “illusion of democracy” you obviously are touting is bullshit.

Poll Watchers have already reported misconduct at every city precinct and the election will probably be contested based on this, while Brown pursues her case in the courts.

When the law is selectively used by local election boards, judges, state election divisions, and any others—-you have the right to seek justice in all courts, including the federal Supreme Court.

So, if you are dismayed that Brown is exercising her rights and continuing her case in the courts, then I suggest you think again.

None of us should be content with this “managed democracy.”

After the polls closed and the votes were counted, Bryan Thompson won the Mayoral seat with 63.84%. Otis Herrington, the only other black Mayoral Candidate besides Elaine Brown received 17.15% of the votes. Out of the over 16,000 residents that live in the City Of Brunswick, Elaine Brown received almost 1.5%. What that tells me is 98.5% of the residents said NO to Elaine Brown as their Mayor.

Elaine Brown has already told the press that she will contest the election. To me, when Elaine Brown continues to claim she is the People’s Mayor, maybe one day she will realize that 98.5% of the people spoke, NO SHOUTED, that they do not want her as their Mayor.

But Elaine Brown does have a right to continue filing complaint after complaint in court and by the looks of things this legal battle may go on for months if not years.

Elaine Brown has no trouble mentioning in her campaign that she was the President of the Black Panthers and people need to accept it and respect. I ask you what kind of acceptance and respect would we be hearing if another candidate running against her was claiming to be a card carrying or Imperial Grand Dragon in the KKK? Just a question about equal rights since many feel the Black Panthers and the KKK have the same attitude, just different colors.