ATLANTA, Ga. — Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger is trying to knock a Democratic state House candidate off the Nov. 3 ballot, arguing he gave up his Georgia residency by voting in Nevada.
The office filed a formal qualification challenge Wednesday with the Office of State Administrative Hearings against David Dillie, the Democratic nominee in House District 161. According to the filing, Dillie voted in Nevada’s June 9 primary and is still registered to vote there. Under Georgia law, voting in another state means giving up residency here, and the office argues Dillie therefore fails the constitutional and legal requirements for the seat.
According to the complaint, investigators found that Dillie was in Nevada from June 6 to 9, overlapping that state’s primary. Dillie, 24, a Gulfstream mechanic, lived in Nevada until September 2024. He qualified in March and had no opponent in Georgia’s May primary. The secretary of state opened its investigation Sept. 24.
Dillie has denied the allegations. He has pointed to a 2021 Nevada law that requires mail ballots to go to every registered voter as the reason a ballot in his name was sent to his former address near Las Vegas.
The challenge now goes to an administrative law judge. The state asked for a hearing before Election Day, but no date has been set. If Dillie is disqualified, Georgia law lets a party name a replacement up to 10 days before an election, leaving Democrats very little time.
The Savannah-area district takes in parts of Chatham and Effingham counties, including Port Wentworth and Rincon. Republican Rep. Bill Hitchens has held the seat since 2013. Early voting is already under way, and more than 41,000 voters in the two counties had cast ballots.
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