Judge says four independent and third-party presidential candidates should not be on Georgia ballot
A state administrative law judge ruled that four independent and third-party candidates are not eligible to be on the ballot in Georgia this November. One candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., has already left the race. The decision, though, is not final. Joe Raedle/Getty Images
Three independent and third-party presidential candidates were dealt a setback in their quest to appear on the ballot in Georgia this November.
A state administrative law judge ruled Monday afternoon that the candidates or their electors were not eligible under Georgia law. Those decisions are not final, though.
Chief Judge Michael Malihi also determined that former independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. did not include his real residential address on his nomination petitions, which mirrors a recent ruling by a New York court. Kennedy announced Friday that he was leaving the race and backing Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump, but Kennedy has not formally withdrawn in Georgia.
Malihi handed independent candidate Cornel West a pair of mixed opinions, finding that he was eligible to run as an independent under state law but that his electors should have filed their paperwork in their own names, not the candidate’s.
The judge also concluded that the electors for Kennedy and socialist candidate Claudia De la Cruz made the same error on their paperwork.
And Malihi determined that the Green Party failed to show that their candidate Jill Stein would appear on the ballot in 20 other states, which is the threshold required under a new pathway created this year by Georgia lawmakers.
But the final decision rests with Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. His spokesman, Mike Hassinger, said Monday that the judge’s decisions were being reviewed.
“You can expect a decision from the SOS office as soon as possible,” Hassinger said.
State Democrats formally objected to these third-party candidates appearing on the ballot in Georgia, where President Joe Biden narrowly won by less than 12,000 votes in 2020.
Georgia representatives for Stein and the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s De la Cruz vowed to continue to push for ballot access here. A message sent to West’s campaign Monday evening was not immediately returned.
“The law is definitely on our side on this one,” said Estevan Hernandez, co-chair of De la Cruz’s campaign in Georgia. “It’s our Democratic legal right to have ballot access, and we just want people to know the fight is continuing and we need people to support us in order to be successful.”
Hugh Esco with the Stein campaign in Georgia said he is hopeful Raffensperger will decide to give the campaign more time to show their candidate will appear on the requisite number of ballots.
So far, the campaign has only been able to provide documentation for six states when 20 are needed in Georgia. Esco said 18 other states where Stein is expected to be on the ballot have future deadlines to get on their ballot.
Esco argues that Stein deserves to be on the ballot in Georgia if the campaign can show Stein is official in 20 states before ballots are printed and sent to Georgians serving overseas next month. Georgia ballots for the Nov. 5 election must be ready by Sept. 17.
“Our offer to the secretary’s office is that we’d like to continue to supplement this as the materials become available to us,” Esco said. “We can’t produce what doesn’t exist.”
Esco said the campaign is prepared to challenge the constitutionality of the state’s early deadline, which he called arbitrary and capricious. That is a matter beyond the scope of the Office of State Administrative Hearings.
“We’re very hopeful that our slate is going to be on the ballot this cycle,” Esco said.
Without these candidates, the choices awaiting Georgia voters this fall will be Vice President Kamala Harris, Trump or Libertarian Chase Oliver.
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