Georgia Appellate Court Denies Third-Party Candidates a Place on the State Ballot
In a back-and-forth between courts and officials, two third-party candidates have been denied a place on the presidential ballot, once again.
(Cornel West, an independent candidate for president. Photo courtesy of cnn.com)
This week, two judges- Thomas J. Cox, Jr. and Emily Richardson- in Fulton County Superior Court, in Georgia, reversed a decision by Georgia Secretary State Brad Raffensperger which would have allowed some third-party candidates to be on the state’s ballot for president. Raffensperger had previously overruled a lower court ruling throwing third-party candidates off the ballot.
This process began at the behest of Clear Choice PAC, a political action committee associated with the Democratic Party who has spent a great deal of time and money trying to prevent third-party candidates from playing spoiler in the 2024 presidential elections.
The most recent decision to come out of Georgia allows Green Party candidate Jill Stein and Libertarian Party candidate Chase Oliver to remain on the ballot, but disqualifies independent candidate Cornel West and Claudia de la Cruz, a candidate for the Party of Socialism and Liberation. de la Cruz would appear in Georgia as an independent.
Efforts to disqualify third-party candidates have been underway in other states as well, including Pennsylvania, Ohio, and New York. In Pennsylvania, Democratic-aligned activists are arguing that candidates must submit a full slate of electors; several of de la Cruz’s electors, for example, are ineligible, they argue. While other states have accepted incomplete electors, arguments before courts in Pennsylvania are asking the state to not accept this.
Despite overwhelming popularity from current vice president and presidential candidate Kamala Harris, after winning a debate against Donald Trump this week, members of Clear Choice PAC have not relented in their attempts to disqualify as many third-party candidates off as many state ballots as they can.
de la Cruz said, “Across the country, the Democratic Party is using the courts to wage an assault on democracy. They are backed by their billionaire friends, and super PACs like Clear Choice which have raised huge sums of money for the explicit goal of removing third party candidates. We will appeal this ruling. People in Georgia should have the right to vote for the candidate of their choice.”
“We are appealing this decision, which negates the basic democratic rights of the people of Georgia to vote for the candidate of their choice,” said Edwin DeJesus, a spokesperson for the West campaign. “We will not stand by as the democratic process is undermined. This ruling is a direct assault on the voters’ rights to choose their leaders, and we are fighting to ensure that every Georgian can vote for a candidate who truly represents their values and visions for the future.”
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