On April 23, U.S. District Court Judge William Ray, a Trump appointee, refused injunctive relief to the Catoosa County Republican Party. The party wanted some candidates for County Commission excluded from the Republican primary ballot of May 21. The party claims the candidates are not bona fide Republicans. Catoosa County Republican Party v Catoosa County Board of Elections, 4:24cv-95.

The judge said the party filed its federal lawsuit too late, and also doubted that the party’s freedom of association would be injured if the candidates remained on the ballot. He also noted that the party has a similar case pending in the Georgia Supreme Court, although that court won’t hear the case until after the primary.

The ruling also rejected the party’s attempt to place some ballot measures on the primary ballot, partly because of time constraints, and also because the ballot measures implied that the challenged candidates are really “anti-Trump Democrats”. Although parties have a right to place advisory questions on their own primary ballots, the questions aren’t permitted if they relate to candidates whose names are appearing on the same primary ballot.

Georgia does not have registration by party.