On April 9, 2026, I wrote an article called “Marion County, Georgia’s New Tax Commissioner is Appointed and Takes Oath of Office on April 8, 2026.”

I need to make a correction to that publication. Georgina Harvey was elected; not appointed. I also need to add some information that our Elections and Registration Supervisor, Tiffany Harris, was kind enough to reach out to me and share.

Late Thursday evening after my publication on April 9, Tiffany Harris contacted me via Facebook Messenger and indicated that the special election was communicated legally and that she legally canceled it after there were no other candidates that ran and qualified for the Tax Commissioner position.

This brought about questions for me, as someone who has spent the last eight years working on multiple election integrity efforts in Georgia. I questioned if the citizens had been properly notified of the special election, because had I not seen that Georgia Harvey had been given the oath by Heather Stuart in one of our Marion County Facebook groups, I would not have even known a special election was held. I had to do a Google search for the special election status, because I knew that anytime a seat is vacated by a sitting official before their term expires, an interim has to be appointed until a special election can be held. I knew that proper notification had to be given. I knew that the people had to have an opportunity to run and qualify for the position, and it didn’t seem that the citizens were in the know. I don’t believe many citizens are aware of how elections are run, either.

That being said, I started researching Title 21 Election laws and asking other people with experience in Georgia elections about this process. I followed up over the weekend with Muscogee County Elections and Registration Supervisor, Nancy Boren. Even though in times past, I had issues with some of the things Nancy did or didn’t do, and questioned some things according to law, I also knew that Nancy knew processes and I trusted her to give me the right information.

I admit that I did not indicate which county, seat, or supervisor I was referencing at first, because I wanted her general answer and didn’t want to predisposition the question to being answered according to politics. Nancy initially gave me the information that indicated to me that Tiffany Harris did not have the legal authority to cancel the special election. At this point, I conversed with Tiffany and I relayed my belief to her that she did not in fact have the legal authority to cancel the special election.

Tiffany stood her ground and adamantly stated that she was not incorrect, and told me that I was no longer allowed to speak with her outside of her email or the office; whereby I cautioned her to watch her ego and indicated that I would honor her request and expected her to treat me with respect and answer timely.

It was then that I contacted Garland Favorito, with VoterGa. I explained the situation, and he stated he would have to ask the question as well and get back with me. A few moments later, Nancy Boren indicated that O.C.G.A § 21-2-191 does in fact give the elections supervisor to cancel a special election when a candidate runs unopposed. I also asked what statute indicated that a special election should be held at the primary election in May or the general election in November. She emailed back and indicated that O.C.G.A. § 21-2-540 answers this question. Additionally, Garland indicated that he “think[s] what they did is ok.”

Looking at the statute that Nancy provided, a special election should be held on certain days the after 29 days from the special election has been called, which was February 26, 2029. That would legally mandate that the special election should have been held the same date as the general election; not May 19, 2026.

O.C.G.A. § 21-2-540(c)(1)(B) states, “Notwithstanding any other provision of law to the contrary, a special primary or special election to fill a vacancy in a county or municipal office shall be held only on one of the following dates which is at least 29 days after the date of the call for the special election:

In even-numbered years, any such special primary or special election shall only be held on:
(i) The third Tuesday in March; provided, however, that in the event that a special primary or special election is to be held under this provision in a year in which a presidential preference primary is to be held, then any such special primary or special election shall be held on the date of and in conjunction with the presidential preference primary;
(ii) The date of the general primary; or
(iii) The Tuesday after the first Monday in November;

So, even though it appears because this is an even numbered year, that I was correct in believing that the special election should be held in November at the general election, this information for the Tax Commissioner special election is moot for this instance, because no other candidate ran and qualified and Tiffany Harris is well within her right to cancel the election.

An individual only has 2 and a half days to qualify to run as a candidate after the special election has been called. I will argue that, again, not enough notice was given to the community to know that they had only 2 1/2 days to put their name in the hat to be considered as our next Tax Commissioner, but Tiffany Harris also has a good point with how the communication in our county could use improvement. And at the end of the day, no information had been given that the election had been canceled.

That being said, it is our responsibility as taxpayers to do our diligence to know how we get our names in the hat for elections, and what the elections process looks like, especially when many people in this county don’t get The Journal, don’t have access to Facebook county groups, aren’t getting updates on the county website, or maybe don’t know how to use the internet to search this information online. And maybe, just maybe, they don’t know what to ask or look for.

In closing, I want to thank Tiffany Harris for her willingness to reach out to me and answer my questions. I also want to express my sincerest apology for falsely accusing her for improper and illegal activity regarding our elections. I relayed to her that I trusted the information from someone I believed to be experienced and have the right answers, and at first it seemed that what Nancy gave me showed Tiffany did wrong; but after speaking further with Nancy, we were both able to realize that there were statutes that we did not know and had we not had this conversation, we would not have had an opportunity to learn and grow.

I ended my email to Tiffany by stating, “It is apparent that misinformation, misunderstanding, and trust in what others we trust says … can cause us to err, but what is most important is that we seek to be humble and make it right with those we wrong, and I want to do that with you.”

If anyone has any questions about Marion County elections, I would encourage you to reach out to Tiffany. She appeared to be very transparent and has been willing to provide any answers or documentation I was requesting.