Former U.S. Representative John Barrow, D-Georgia. (Courtesy photo)

Former Congressman John Barrow has filed a motion to intervene in a federal lawsuit seeking to reinstate a canceled election for the Georgia Supreme Court.

"This Motion is timely, as Barrow's interests and rights have newly ripened," the Athens lawyer's legal team said in a pleading filed Thursday in the U.S. District Court of the Northern District of Georgia in Atlanta.

The ripening of Barrow's interests was the Georgia Supreme Court's denial of his appeal seeking to compel Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger to hold an election for Justice Keith Blackwell's job.

Blackwell announced his resignation just before qualifying to run for his office opened on March 1, but he didn't make his resignation effective until November. Barrow said he had been planning to challenge Blackwell, but was denied the opportunity when he showed up to qualify. Instead, Barrow said he was told Gov. Brian Kemp would appoint a replacement for Blackwell.

Barrow and another would-be candidate for Blackwell's job, former state Rep. Beth Beskin, D-Atlanta, filed a mandamus action to compel the reinstatement of the election. Fulton County Superior Court Judge Emily Richardson denied their request. Ultimately, the state Supreme Court affirmed her decision.

While waiting for the appeal to be decided, others sued in federal court over the same issue.

The federal plaintiffs are: Anne Glenn Weltner, the widow of former Georgia Supreme Court Justice Charles Weltner; Statesboro civil rights attorney and former Georgia NAACP president Francys Johnson Jr.; and Laura Register, a former member of the Grady County Board of Education. The case is before Senior Judge Orinda Evans. They contend that Raffensperger's decision to cancel the election violates federal civil rights laws.

Barrow agrees with them but has more to say.

"The legal framework announced by that decision violates Barrow's federal constitutional rights. Barrow has unique rights and interests in the subject of the pending action as a prospective candidate in an election for the office at issue, his rights and interests could be impaired by a ruling without his intervention, and the current parties do not adequately represent or protect his interests as a prospective candidate, which are distinct from the interests of the voter-Plaintiffs, despite the similar view of the law and facts that underlie this case," Barrow's motion said.

Barrow's legal team includes S. Lester Tate III, former chairman of the state Judicial Qualifications Commission which polices Georgia judges' ethical conduct, and a group from Pope McGlamry: former U.S. Attorney Michael Moore; Wade Tomlinson III; Charles Byrd; former U.S. Rep. Charles "Buddy" Darden III; Elizabeth White; and Michael Morrill.

Raffensperger's counsel, Attorney General Chris Carr, declined to comment.

Barrow said in a written statement that the Georgia Constitution mandates Supreme Court justices "shall be elected," and the U.S. Constitution does not allow an election to be "arbitrarily set aside." He said the high court's ruling as it stands gives any judge the personal power to "veto" the results of an election.

"It's a power that can be wielded solely at the whim of the incumbent judge and is an assault on the rights of Georgia voters," Barrow said.

"The Georgia Supreme Court has ruled that no one who wins an election to the Georgia Supreme Court has the right to take office unless the outgoing incumbent agrees to let the winner serve," Barrow said. "This is not the law anywhere in the free world, and we intend to make sure that this will not be the law in Georgia for long."

The case is Weltner, et al. v. Raffensperger, No. 1:20-cv-01407-ODE, pending before Judge Orinda Evans.