Judge asked to cancel referendum in slave descendants’ zoning battle with Georgia county

Associated Press

DARIEN, Ga. (AP) — Elected commissioners of a Georgia county are asking a judge to cancel a special election that challenges zoning changes to a Black community of slave descendants. An attorney for coastal McIntosh County told a judge at a hearing Tuesday that the Oct. 1 referendum is illegal and the county shouldn’t have to pay for it. More than 600 ballots have already been during early voting. Gullah-Geechee residents of Hogg Hummock collected petition signatures to force the election after commissioners weakened protections that limited development in the tiny community on Sapelo Island. The residents’ attorneys say county officials have no legal standing to challenge the election. The judge said he could rule early next week.