Georgia puts Cornel West and Claudia De la Cruz back on the state’s presidential ballots

ATLANTA (AP) — Georgia voters are likely to be able to choose from five candidates for president after Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger on Thursday put Cornel West and Claudia De la Cruz back on the ballot.

Raffensperger, an elected Republican, overruled findings made last week by an administrative law judge that removed West and De la Cruz. West is running as an independent. De la Cruz is the nominee of the Party for Socialism and Liberation but has qualified as an independent in Georgia.

However, Raffensperger upheld Judge Michael Malihi’s finding that Green Party nominee Jill Stein should be barred from ballots.

Challenges to independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. were dismissed as moot after Kennedy sent papers to Georgia on Monday to officially withdraw his name. Kennedy last week said he was suspending his campaign, withdrawing from the ballot in the most competitive states and endorsing Republican Donald Trump.

Democrats who are trying to knock West and De la Cruz off the ballot could appeal the decision, but time is running short. Georgia mails out military and overseas ballots starting Sept. 17.

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If the decisions stand, Georgia voters will have five choices for president — Trump, West, De la Cruz, Democrat Kamala Harris and Libertarian Chase Oliver. It would be the first time since 1948 that Georgians would have more than four choices for president. Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians automatically qualify for elections in Georgia.

Democrats legally challenged West, De la Cruz, Kennedy and Stein, seeking to block candidates who could siphon votes from Harris after Joe Biden won Georgia by fewer than 12,000 votes in 2020.

Malihi had 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.

But Raffensperger, who makes the final decision, said one petition in De la Cruz’s or West’s name met the requirements of both state law and a 2016 court decision that limits the state to requiring only 7,500 signatures on a petition for statewide office. Counties have found that De la Cruz and West each collected more than the required 7,500 signatures.

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.

The Green Party had 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 Raffensperger agreed with Malihi that the party hasn’t proved that it has qualified in at least 20 other states.