In a politically stunning move, the Georgia House of Representatives voted down a bill Tuesday morning that would have dramatically changed how Fayette County elects its five-member county commission.

The bill was defeated 71-53, with yet another 47 representatives “walking out,” meaning they did not vote on the measure.

Such a defeat is a rarity for local legislation because the House typically rubber-stamps such bills, so long as they are approved by a majority of the local legislative delegation.

Rep. Dan Lakly of Peachtree City worked hard to get the bill defeated. From the House floor Monday, he argued that the bill would have actually disenfranchised voters.

Currently, all five county commission seats are at-large, meaning that all voters in Fayette County can vote in elections for each and every seat. The proposed bill would have cut that number down to three by creating three special geographic districts in which voters could only vote for the seat established for their particular district.

The bill would have allowed only two of the commission seats to remain being elected on an at-large basis.

“I had a lot of Democrats to help us because it was the honorable thing to do,” said Lakly, a Republican.

Lakly also trotted out Fayette County’s most recent election results to show the number of votes he got in Fayette County compared to the number of Fayette votes received by Fludd and bill cosponsors Rep. Roberta Abdul-Salaam and Rep. Darryl Jordan.

Lakly got 21,125 Fayette votes in the election, followed by Rep. John Yates with 5,206; both are Republicans. Fludd got 2,072 votes; Abdul-Salaam got 3,312 and Jordan got 2,146; all three are Democrats.

“They don’t represent the people,” Lakly said. “I do.”

Lakly also was allowed to share with House members copies of several letters to the editor that were critical of the district voting proposal.

Although House Speaker Glenn Richardson believes that all local legislation should be approved, Lakly noted that the speaker gave him time Monday to speak on the floor against the bill, and he greatly appreciated that.

Fludd did not return a phone call seeking comment Tuesday afternoon. Previously, he said the matter is a “fairness issue” that would allow citizens who have similar philosophies to choose the candidate of their choice.

Fludd has pointed out that people in north Fayette, for example, might have different values that those in Tyrone or those in Brooks. In a letter to The Citizen Tuesday, Fludd wrote that district voting makes sense because “many people feel the north side of the county is subsidizing the south.”

“For several years, there have been discussions, plans and even a small amount of activity but no real visible progress on the park in north Fayette,” Fludd wrote.

Fludd added that the time was ripe for change on the issue because the boundaries for the Fayette County Commission haven’t been changed since the 1800s.