Language on ballot disputed as biased
Language on ballot disputed as biased
by Jon Gillooly
July 4, 2012
In what may be the first step toward a lawsuit, an anti-TSPLOST group recently retained high-profile Atlanta attorney Pitts Carr to challenge what the group believes is biased language that Secretary of State Brian Kemp placed on the July 31 ballot.
Cobb residents likely will remember Carr as lead counsel for such plaintiffs as Butch Thompson in the lawsuit against Cobb EMC, a case that ultimately resulted in the entire replacement of the Cobb EMC board.
The ballot language raising the ire of the anti-tax group is a preamble that says the TSPLOST “provides for local transportation projects to create jobs and reduce traffic congestion with citizen oversight.”
In a June 28 letter to Kemp, Carr asks: who drafted such language, under what authority is it claimed that such language may be placed on the ballot?; were private concerns involved in the preparation and submission of this language?; and who are the private entities involved?
“I think it is very improper for anyone to use a ballot for advocacy, and this is like having a billboard in support of Referendum 1 right on the ballot,” Carr told the Journal on Tuesday.
