Fulton County judges disqualify Cornel West, Claudia De la Cruz from Georgia ballot
This story was updated on Thursday, Sept. 12 at 9:25 a.m.
A pair of Fulton County judges have disqualified independent presidential candidate Cornel West and Party for Socialism and Liberation candidate Claudia De la Cruz from Georgia’s ballot.
The judges believe Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger was wrong to place De la Cruz and West on Georgia’s ballot after Democrat-backed challenges alleged they did not meet the criteria to qualify for the race. Last month, Raffensperger also ruled Green Party candidate Jill Stein qualified to be on the ballot.
In the case of West, Judge Thomas Cox Jr. wrote in his ruling that there is “insufficient time to strike the candidates’ name or reprint the ballots.” Instead, the Superior Court of Fulton County is ordering the secretary of state to post notices at all polling locations to indicate that West is not a valid presidential candidate.
The same goes for De la Cruz, but Judge Emily Richardson ruled that in places where there is time to reprint ballots, the socialist candidate’s name should be removed.
Both rulings could be appealed.
De la Cruz will be visiting Atlanta Friday to campaign, according to the Party for Socialism and Liberation in Atlanta.
Green Party nominee Jill Stein’s case remains in progress, and libertarian candidate Chase Oliver has already secured his spot on the ballot.
This fight could be critical in November as who appears on the ballot could shift votes toward or away from Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump.
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