ATLANTA – Georgia’s Libertarian and Green parties have filed a lawsuit charging the state’s laws for third-party candidates to get on the ballot are unfair and onerous, particularly in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic.
The suit, filed in federal court Thursday, accuses the Georgia secretary of state’s office of setting up two standards for major-party and third-party candidates to qualify for elections.
While Republicans and Democrats can get on the ballot almost automatically by paying the required fee, Libertarians, Greens and other third-party and independent candidates must collect thousands of signatures, amounting to 5% of registered voters in the case of a congressional race. Going door to door to gather those signatures is impossible while Georgians are engaged in social distancing to avoid being exposed to COVID-19, the suit alleges.
“We’re optimistic that the courts will recognize how inappropriate it would be for independent candidates to go knocking on doors, handing around pens and clipboards, and speaking to voters about how signature requirements work,” said Martin Cowen, a would-be candidate for Georgia’s 13th Congressional District seat and a plaintiff in the case.
“Georgia’s signature requirements are unconstitutional under the best of circumstances. To enforce them now is not just unfair but dangerously negligent of 2020’s novel public health concerns.”
Cowen is the most recent of more than two dozen candidates who have tried and failed to meet the state’s requirements for getting on a congressional ballot.
The other plaintiff in the case is the Green Party’s Jimmy Cooper III, who wishes to run for Georgia’s 8th Congressional District seat.
The suit recommends reducing the number of petition signatures candidates need to land a place on the ballot or eliminating the signature requirement altogether.