Georgia Secretary of State Karen Handel has decided to allow a national guardsman to remain on the ballot of today’s special election to fill the District 93 state house seat.

Malik Douglas is one of six candidates vying to fill the unexpired term of State Representative Ron Sailor, Jr. who resigned in March after pleading guilty to money laundering.

Douglas was deployed in Iraq, when he learned that one of the other candidates, Colet Odenigbo, was challenging the legality of his seeking elected office while on active duty with the military.

The National Guard allowed Douglas to return to the U.S. to appear before an administrative law judge hearing the case. On May 7, Judge Michael Malihi dismissed the case, writing that Odenigbo “did not present any admissible evidence to support his legal argument.”

Late Monday, the day before the election, Secretary Handel formally adopted the judge’s decision, allowing Douglas to remain on the ballot, along with Odenigbo and three other candidates: Dee Dawkins-Haigler, Jim Sendelbach and Traci Waites. A sixth contender, KaTesha Sagers is running as a write-in candidate.

In a press release Handel said, “The State should not create higher hurdles for brave men and women serving in the Armed Forces who want and are otherwise eligible to stand for election here in Georgia.”

Odenigbo tells me he wants to see the outcome of today’s six-way contest before deciding whether to appeal the secretary of state’s decision.

We’re reporting from outside a polling location at Murphy Candler Elementary School in the Atlanta suburb of Lithonia. Click on the video for a look behind the scenes.