7 days ago
Georgia mayor and two others jailed for trying to halt local election
CAMILLA, Ga. (WSAV) — The mayor of Camilla, Ga., and two former election officials have been jailed on felony charges stemming from efforts last November to halt a local election after one of the mayor's allies, Venterra Pollard, was disqualified from a city council race.
Mayor Kelvin Owens was held at the Mitchell County jail Friday, two days after a grand jury indicted him on a felony charge of election interference and a misdemeanor count of conspiring to commit election fraud.
Camilla, a farming community of about 5,000 people, is about 225 miles from Savannah.
The city's former elections superintendent and her former deputy superintendent were also jailed. Rhunette Williford and Cheryl Ford were charged with the same crimes as the mayor, plus misdemeanor counts of failing to perform their duties as public officers.
Mayor Owens had blamed the local upheaval on racial politics, saying that Pollard, who is Black, was targeted by white residents trying to wrest power from the majority Black population. The city of Camilla is nearly three-fourths Black.
All three defendants remained in jail awaiting a hearing Monday. District Attorney Joe Mulholland, whose circuit includes Camilla, declined to comment on the indictment Friday.
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