Opinion
23911.
ARGUED JANUARY 3, 1967.
DECIDED JANUARY 6, 1967. REHEARING DENIED JANUARY 9, 1967.
Mandamus. Fulton Superior Court. Before Judge Shaw.
Andrew A. Smith, Henry M. Henderson, for appellants.
Arthur K. Bolton, Attorney General, G. Ernest Tidwell, Executive Assistant Attorney General, Harold N. Hill, Marion O. Gordon, Assistant Attorneys General, for appellees.
The ruling this day made in the case of Jones v. Fortson, 223 Ga. 7, controls adversely to the contentions of the appellants that the indecisive results for the office of Governor of Georgia in the November general election should be determined in a special election rather than by a vote of the General Assembly.
The order of the trial court sustaining the general demurrer of Ben W. Fortson, Jr., Secretary of State, to the petition of Andrew A. Smith et al., seeking by the writ of mandamus to require the defendant in his official capacity as Secretary of State to call a special election to fill the office of Governor for the ensuing term of four years, was not erroneous.
Judgment affirmed. All the Justices concur. Duckworth, C. J., and Cook, J., concur specially.
ARGUED JANUARY 3, 1967 — DECIDED JANUARY 6, 1967 — REHEARING DENIED JANUARY 9, 1967.
I concur specially in the judgment of affirmance in this case for the reasons stated in my dissent in Jones v. Fortson, 223 Ga. 7, for the reason that a runoff must be held under the authority of section 34-1514 of the Election Code of 1964 (Ga. L. 1964, Ex. Sess.; p. 26; Code Ann. § 34-1514) before any other consideration may be given to whether or not one of the candidates for Governor has received a majority of votes cast in the November General Election.