More on Powell

Here is the (handwritten) court order from Judge Wendy Shoob in favor of Jim Powell, and it affirms everything I've been arguing all along. The argument has been levied that the homestead exemption is an 'explicitly defined requirement in the statute' but I think that one fails because the same statute allows for the consideration, thus inclusion, of other factors to establish residency.

The ALJ, on a request from the secretary of state, prepared a report that ruled in favor of Powell's residency based on the usage of those other factors given the explanation of the his homestead exemption.

This seems more than logical to me. The ALJ would argue that 'the homestead exemption determines residency' and Powell would respond 'yes, but here is the explanation for why the exemption is located where it is and the same statute permits consideration of other factors to determine residency.' The ALJ would respond 'given your explanation and the inclusion of the other factors, your residency is in Towns County.'

The SoS ignored the inclusion of other factors and recommendation of the ALJ, deliberately relying on a narrow interpretation of the law ... and it is a narrow one because she refused to take into consideration other allowable factors to establish residency. You'll have a hard time convincing that if this had been a Republican challenger Handel wouldn't have - rightfully - taken into account all of the factors.