Georgia Judge Disqualifies 4 Independent, Third-Party Candidates From November Ballot

A file image of voters standing in line to cast their ballots during the first day of early voting in the U.S. Senate runoff, in Atlanta, Ga., on Dec. 14, 2020. Jessica McGowan/Getty Images

A Georgia administrative judge has recommended denying four independent and third-party candidates from appearing on the ballot in November’s election.

The recommendations, handed down on Aug. 26 by Judge Michael Malihi, pave the way to disqualify independents Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, as well as the Green Party’s Jill Stein and the Party for Socialism and Liberation’s Claudia De la Cruz.

The final decision now rests with Georgia’s Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger. He must make the decision before Georgia begins mailing ballots to military and overseas voters on Sept. 17.

If affirmed by Raffensperger, Georgia voters will be choosing from only Democratic candidate Vice President Kamala Harris, Republican candidate former President Donald Trump, and Libertarian candidate Chase Oliver. The last time there were any candidates aside from a Democrat, Republican and Libertarian was in 2000, when Pat Buchanan qualified.

Georgia is one of the battleground states where Democrats and allied groups filed challenges to independent and third-party candidates. While none of those four candidates are likely to claim Georgia’s 16 electoral votes, they are considered a threat to siphon votes away from Trump or Harris. President Joe Biden won the state in 2020 with a razor-thin margin of fewer than 12,000 votes.

In their challenge, Georgia Democrats accused De la Cruz, Kennedy, Stein, and West of having not “faithfully observed the state of Georgia’s election laws.”

Specifically, the lawsuit claims that all four improperly submitted candidate names to state elections officials rather than names of the state electors who will formally vote for them. It also said the Georgia electors for each of the four failed to pay state qualifying fees.

“None of these candidates are qualified to be on the Georgia ballot,” said Tolulope Kevin Olasanoye, executive director of the Democratic Party of Georgia.

Until this year, the only way to secure a place on the ballot in Georgia was by collecting signatures from 7,500 registered voters in the state. But Georgia’s Republican-led Legislature passed a law directing the secretary of state to also add on the ballot “any political party or political body” that qualifies for the ballot in at least 20 other states.

According to Raffensperger’s office, the campaigns of Kennedy, West, and De la Cruz each submitted more than enough signatures ahead of the deadline to meet the registration requirement. Meanwhile, Stein’s campaign relied on the new law for access to the Georgia ticket.

In the De la Cruz, Kennedy, and West cases, Judge Malihi agreed with the Democrats’ arguments that petitions for independent and third party candidates must be filed in the name of the 16 presidential electors, and not the candidates themselves.

“In Georgia, independent candidates do not themselves qualify for the office of president and vice president of the United States of America for the ballot,” the judge wrote, citing a 2017 state election law. “Rather, individuals seeking the office of presidential elector qualify for the ballot to have their candidate for president or vice president placed on the ballot.”

In Stein’s case, the judge noted that the Georgia Green Party has not provided the necessary documentation to prove it has ballot access in 20 states. Although the party’s attorney said supporters were working to secure ballot access in 24 states, he was only able to present the court with evidence from six states.

According to the attorney’s testimony, the Green Party was unable to provide the remainder of the evidence because many of the states in which it seeks ballot access would not provide this information until after Georgia’s deadline.

The recommendations come days after Kennedy announced on Aug. 23 that he abandoned his bid for the White House, instead endorsing Trump. While announcing the suspension of his presidential campaign, Kennedy said he would stay on the ballot in most states but remove his name from ballots in closely contested states.