Qualifying Begins July 31 For Clayton County BOC District 3 Special Election

During its regular meeting July 2, the Clayton County Board of Commissioners unanimously voted to set the special election qualifying fee at $1,068.

Qualifying begins Wednesday, July 31 to Thursday, Aug. 1 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. and Friday, Aug. 2 from 9 a.m. to noon.

Qualifying will be held at the Clayton County Board of Elections and Registration, 121 S. McDonough St., Jonesboro.

The voter registration deadline is Oct. 7.

While there will be a special election for District 3 on Nov. 5, there will also be a regular election as well.

In the District 3 runoff on June 18, Tashé Allen, wife of current Clayton County Sheriff Levon Allen, beat Attania Jean-Funny. Allen will face Republican David Hamrick in the November general election.

Franklin ran for Clayton County Board of Commissioners Chair but finished third out of four Democrat candidates in the May 21 primary election.

Former District 1 Commissioner Alieka Anderson and former Clayton County Tax Commissioner Terry Baskin advanced to the June 18 runoff with Anderson winning that race to become the new Clayton County chair. Anderson will replace current Chair Jeff Turner who ran unsuccessfully against Levon Allen for sheriff.

♦ ♦ ♦

Franklin was first elected District 3 commissioner in 2016 to fill the seat vacated by Shana Rooks, who ran for Clayton County Superior Court judge.

Franklin also served as county commission vice chair, but commissioners removed her from that position at the Oct. 23, 2023 meeting.

The Board of Commissioners also voted to suspend two sections of the board’s rules related to Franklin’s board appointments and zoning recommendations.

“The Clayton County Board of Commissioners deemed the removal of Franklin as vice chair and additional sanctions in the best interest of the county citing behavior unbecoming of the position,” a press release from the board read after the Oct. 23 meeting.

In October, Board of Commissioners sanctioned Franklin after a Sept. 29 incident where she said she was drugged at a sports bar in Morrow.

According to reports, a police officer found Franklin lying on a bench and crying; she later appeared to have passed out outside the 404 Sports Bar and Grill at Southlake Mall.

Franklin was combative as EMS personnel were trying to evaluate her and transport her to Southern Regional Medical Center, it was reported.

On Oct. 3, Franklin posted about the incident on her Facebook page and wrote, “I want to share a deeply personal and troubling experience that I recently faced while attending an event here in our very community. It is believed by medical professionals that I was drugged with a GHB pill, more commonly known as the ‘date rape pill,’ and this incident has shaken me to my core.”

According to an Oct. 13 Morrow Police Department report, urine test results from Southern Regional revealed Franklin had cannabis in her system.

♦ ♦ ♦

For more information on the upcoming qualifying and other election information, visit https://www.claytoncountyga.gov/government/elections-and-registration/, call 770-477-3372 or email elections@claytoncountyga.gov.

Voters can also check their voter status on the Georgia Secretary of State’s My Voter Page at https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/.