MACON, Ga. — Members of the Macon-Bibb County Board of Elections say two candidates in a six-way race for Bibb County sheriff didn't meet all the requirements to run. Now, they're trying to figure out what to do next.
Macon-Bibb Elections Supervisor Tom Gillon says sheriff candidates have additional requirements compared to other offices.
In addition to paying a qualifying fee, candidates must provide a list of addresses for six years prior to qualifying, get fingerprinted and do a background check.
Fingerprinting happens at probate court and is required by Georgia law. According to that section, fingerprinting must happen within three business days of the qualifying period ending. That means anyone running needed to get that done by Wednesday, March 13.
Gillon says that's where the "sticking point" is with two of the candidates. Vice Chair Mike Kaplan confirms two candidates did not finish those requirements, but nobody will say which two candidates are in question.
Last week — just four days after all six candidates appeared in a forum — the election board had an item on their meeting agenda: "Qualifications for sheriff for May 21, 2024 primary." The item came up for discussion, but they didn't linger on it.
They just said it would come up again at a later meeting.
Monday, the board had a meeting to certify the presidential primary results from last week. A few people showed up to that meeting, expecting more information on the sheriff situation. The meeting only lasted about a minute and there was no mention of the sheriff's race.
The election board's attorney, William Noland, says the board will have a hearing and decide whether to disqualify the candidates.
So far, there's no date for that hearing. Noland says he's still working on getting letters sent out to the affected candidates to officially inform them of the situation.