Commissioner Marvin S. Arrington Jr. responded to a judge’s contempt order regarding the Fulton County panel refusing to approve Republican nominees to the county’s Board of Elections and Registrations, saying that it’s a violation of the First Amendment.

Superior Court Judge David Emerson ruled in a contempt hearing sought by the Fulton County Republican Party after the commissioners failed to comply with the court’s order to appoint the party’s chief executive officer’s nominees, Jason Frazier and Julie Adams, to the board of elections.

Arrington in an Aug. 28 release, said commissioners cannot be compelled on how to vote by the General Assembly or a court, as that would violate the First Amendment and each elected commissioner’s right to speak through his or her vote. He said an order

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