Judge says 4 independent and third-party candidates should be kept off Georgia presidential ballots

ATLANTA (AP) — A judge ruled Monday that four independent and third-party candidates are ineligible to appear on Georgia’s presidential ballot, although the final decision will be up to Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger.

The rulings by Michael Malihi, an administrative law judge, would block the qualifications of 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.

Kennedy on Friday had said he would seek to withdraw his name in Georgia and some other closely contested states as he endorsed Republican Donald Trump.

Democrats legally challenged whether all four qualify for the ballot, seeking to block candidates who could siphon votes from Democratic nominee and Vice President Kamala Harris after Joe Biden won Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020.

Raffensperger must make a decision before Georgia mails out military and overseas ballots starting Sept. 17. Spokesperson Mike Hassinger said Raffensperger’s office is reviewing the decisions and will decide each as soon as possible.

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If affirmed by Raffensperger, the rulings mean that Georgia voters will choose only among Harris, Trump and Libertarian Chase Oliver in the presidential race.

Georgia is one of several states where Democrats and allied groups have filed challenges to third-party and independent candidates. Republicans in Georgia intervened, seeking to keep all the candidates on the ballot.

In the Kennedy, West and De la Cruz cases, Malihi agreed with arguments made by the state Democratic Party that petitions for independent candidates must be filed in the name of the 16 presidential electors, and not the candidates themselves, citing a change made to Georgia law in 2017.

“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,” Malihi wrote. “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.”

Lawyers for Kennedy, West and De la Cruz had all argued that was the wrong interpretation of the law, in part because Raffensperger’s office had accepted the petition without protest. Counties later concluded that Kennedy, West and De law Cruz had each collected the required 7,500 signatures to qualify. The campaigns say it would be unduly burdensome to collect 7,500 signatures on 16 different petitions, for a total of 120,000 signatures.

Malihi also ruled in a separate challenge backed by Clear Choice Action, a Democratic-aligned political action committee, that Kennedy must be disqualified because the New York address he used on Georgia ballot access petitions is a “sham.” The Georgia decision is based on a decision by a New York court earlier this month finding Kennedy doesn’t live at the address he has listed in the New York City suburbs.

“The facts presented to the court concerning the respondent’s domicile overwhelmingly indicate that the Katonah address is not, and never was, the respondent’s bona fide residence.”

The Green Party has hoped to use a new Georgia law awarding a ballot place to candidates of a party that qualifies in at least 20 other states to put Jill Stein’s name before Georgia voters. But Malihi ruled it was impossible for the party to prove it has qualified in at least 20 other states before Georgia’s deadline to print ballots, saying the party doesn’t qualify.

Supporters of the other candidates have accused the Democrats of undermining voter choice with technical arguments.