Jerry NeSmith was elected commissioner but died three days before Election Day. Voters who supported him challenged the decision to treat their paper-ballot votes as void. The Georgia Supreme Court affirmed the superior court. It held that Georgia statutes expressly make votes for a candidate who dies before Election Day void and require the election board to apply that rule. The court rejected the voters’ First and Fourteenth Amendment claims and held that the statutory process did not violate their recognized constitutional rights. The election result therefore stood under the governing statutes.