Jones v. Norris 421 S.E.2d 706 262 Ga. 468, 421 S.E.2d 706 (Cite as: 262 Ga. 468, 421 S.E.2d 706) Supreme Court of Georgia. JONES, et al. v. NORRIS. No. S92A1502. Oct. 21, 1992. Candidate for superintendent of schools filed action to contest election after election superintendent declared another candidate to be victor. The Superior Court, Wayne County, Faye Sanders Martin, J., ruled that run-off election was required, and other candidate appealed. The Supreme Court, Clarke, C.J., held that: (1) cardboard ballot "marked" by a punch is subject to statute providing, with respect to conduct of elections using paper ballots, that votes cast for candidates who have died, withdrawn, or been disqualified shall be void and shall not be counted in primaries, and (2) votes cast for candidate who had withdrawn from race were void and should not have been counted in determining whether any candidate received majority of votes, and therefore whether run-off election was required. Reversed. West Headnotes [1] Elections 158 144k158 Most Cited Cases Absent contrary statutory authority, cardboard ballots "marked" by a punch are governed by statute providing, with respect to conduct of elections using paper ballots, that votes cast for candidates who have died, withdrawn, or been disqualified shall be void and shall not be counted in primaries. O.C.G.A. § 21-2-438(a). [2] Elections 158 144k158 Most Cited Cases Votes cast in primary election for candidate who had withdrawn from race for superintendent of schools were void and should not have been counted in determining whether any candidate received majority of votes cast, and therefore whether run-off election was required, even though vote recorder ballots, rather than paper ballots, were used in elec- Page 1 tion. O.C.G.A. §§ 21- 2-438(a), 21-2-501(a). **707 *469 James G. Johnson, Jr., Alvin Leaphart, Leaphart & Johnson, P.C., Jesup, for Jones, et al. Leon A. Wilson, II, Waycross, for Norris. Dennis R. Dunn, Kathryn Allen, Asst. Attys. Gen., State Law Dept., Atlanta, for amicus appellant. Michael J. Bowers, Atty. Gen., Atlanta. *468 CLARKE, Chief Justice. Larry Hulvey, appellant Jerry Jones and appellee David Norris qualified as candidates for the office of Superintendent of Schools for Wayne County. Approximately two weeks before the primary election, Hulvey withdrew from the race. Finding that there was not time to have the ballots reprinted, the Superintendent of Elections for Wayne County caused signs to be posted at each voting precinct informing voters that Hulvey had withdrawn from the race. Additionally, Hulvey's withdrawal from the race was reported several times in the local medial. Nonetheless Hulvey received 213 votes. Appellant Jones received 3,190 votes, and appellee Norris received 3,161 votes. The Election Superintendent declared void those votes cast for Hulvey, and declared appellant Jones the victor. Norris then filed this action for contest of the election. *469 OCGA § 21-2-501(a) provides, in pertinent part, that "no candidate shall be nominated for public office in any primary ... unless such candidate shall have received a majority of the votes cast to fill such nomination...." Construing this Code section, the trial court found that although Hulvey had withdrawn from the race, the "votes cast" for him were required to be counted in determining whether any candidate received a majority of votes. Thus, the trial court found that 3,283 votes were necessary for a candidate to receive a majority of votes cast, and as neither appellant nor appellee had received this number, the trial court held that a run-off election was required. [1][2] Title 21 of the Code, governing the conduct of primaries and general elections, makes no provision for this situation where vote recorder ballots are used to cast votes © 2006 Thomson/West. No Claim to Orig. U.S. Govt. Works. 305