Clear Choice PAC REALLY doesn't want third-party candidates on the ballot in Georgia
A political action committee, most often associated with the Democratic Party, has found common ground with a Georgia judge to disqualify third-party candidates from a state election ballot.
{Claudia de la Cruz, with microphone. Photo courtesy of latintimes.com)
Disclaimer: This article is not an endorsement of any political candidate. Prior to its publication, the author donated $20 to the Claudia / Karina campaign.
Filing deadlines for presidential candidates come several months before the general election due to logistical complexities involving sending out overseas and military ballots to those who would like to vote in an American election. This means all the administrative paperwork involved in getting a third-party candidate on the ballot must be done before that deadline.
“We also required to go through a number of administrative steps,” Walter Smolarek, the media coordinator for the Claudia and Karina campaign, said. “Submitting forms, getting those forms notarized, submitting affidavits. There are part of the many obstacles that are built into the electoral system in the United States that make it much more difficult for third-party candidates to compete. These are requirements that are not placed on the Democratic or Republican Party candidates. Because we've had so much momentum and such an outpouring of support for the campaign, we've been able to mobilize volunteers that take care of these added burdens that are placed on us.”
Challenges to petitions, which are common for third-party campaigns to experience, must also be settled before the deadline. The challenger this year is a familiar organization to such campaigns: Clear Choice PAC, an organization most often associated with the Democratic Party.
Clear Choice defines its mission as ensuring election integrity and transparency, while also preventing spoiler candidates from fracturing a voter base. In other words, their goal is to make their party’s chosen candidate win by disqualifying as many other candidates as possible. Failing that, Clear Choice, which has considerable funding compared to lesser-known grass-roots campaigns, can drain a campaign’s time and money responding to challenges rather than organizing campaign events.
Georgia, which has thus far been a seat of controversy involving election laws, has also been a proving ground for third-party campaigns to withstand legal challenges. Michael Mahli, a long-tenured administrative law judge ruled that many third-party candidates were disqualified from the state ballot.
Then, Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger overruled Mahli’s decision, stating that third-party candidates could remain on the ballot after all. Not to be outdone, Clear Choice PAC members filed an appeal to a higher court in order to determine the validity of Raffensperger’s decision.
For the embattled Libertarian Chase Oliver, who has found criticism from within his own state affiliates, it’s another challenge to overcome in an election year fraught with difficulty. For Jill Stein of the Green Party (her third go-round trying to make it as a third-party candidate), it’s business as usual. For Cornel West, whose prospects at getting a significant number of votes is remote, it might not make much difference in the long run.
For Claudia de la Cruz, presidential nominee of the Party for Liberation and Socialism, the continued challenges in Georgia- as well as those she faces in Pennsylvania and Ohio- is a sign that the Democratic Party does not desire true democracy, but instead wishes the two-party system to continue.
de la Cruz has claimed the Democratic Party itself is behind the legal challenges testing the financial and legal capacity of her campaign.
“The two-party system is afraid of democracy,” de la Cruz said in an Instagram video. “And will stop at nothing to eliminate independent third-party options. They are actively trying to stop the vote socialist campaign because they're trying to stop you. Yes, they're trying to stop you and all other working class from living with dignity and participating in a society that truly centers our needs.”
In the video, de la Cruz goes on to allege Democratic operatives are “being aided” by Republican officials who “specialize in voter purges election after election.”
It’s unclear whether the Democratic Party actually is involved or if the Clear Choice PAC is operating under its own direction. At time of writing, queries for information to the Georgia, Pennsylvania, and New Hampshire Democratic Party members have gone unanswered.
Thus far, the outcome of the Georgia challenges remains unclear. Whether an appeal is even considered, or whether a higher court will defer to Raffensperber’s decision, is not known. Candidates such as de la Cruz must continue to raise money to afford unexpected legal fees, while Clear Choice PAC has a war chest of money to draw upon.
Their intentions could not be more clear: they wish to prevent, by any means necessary, third-party candidates from appearing on presidential ballots whenever and wherever they can.
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