{"id":2340924,"date":"2024-09-13T17:56:02","date_gmt":"2024-09-13T21:56:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dem-led-lawfare-gets-3rd-party-candidates-kicked-off-ga-ballot\/"},"modified":"2024-09-13T18:00:48","modified_gmt":"2024-09-13T22:00:48","slug":"dem-led-lawfare-gets-3rd-party-candidates-kicked-off-ga-ballot","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/dem-led-lawfare-gets-3rd-party-candidates-kicked-off-ga-ballot\/","title":{"rendered":"Dem-Led Lawfare Gets 3rd-Party Candidates Kicked Off GA Ballot"},"content":{"rendered":"<aside class=\"mashsb-container mashsb-main mashsb-stretched\"><div class=\"mashsb-box\"><div class=\"mashsb-count mash-medium\" style=\"&quot;\"><div class=\"counts mashsbcount\">18<\/div><span class=\"mashsb-sharetext\">SHARES<\/span><\/div><div class=\"mashsb-buttons\"><a class=\"mashicon-facebook mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.conservativenewsdaily.net%2Fbreaking-news%2Fdem-led-lawfare-gets-3rd-party-candidates-kicked-off-ga-ballot%2F\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Facebook<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-twitter mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/intent\/tweet?text=&amp;url=https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/?p=2340924&amp;via=ConservNewsDly\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Twitter<\/span><\/a><a class=\"mashicon-subscribe mash-medium mash-nomargin mashsb-noshadow\" href=\"#\" target=\"_top\" rel=\"nofollow\"><span class=\"icon\"><\/span><span class=\"text\">Subscribe<\/span><\/a><div class=\"onoffswitch2 mash-medium mashsb-noshadow\" style=\"display:none\"><\/div><\/div>\n            <\/div>\n                <div style=\"clear:both\"><\/div><\/aside>\n            <!-- Share buttons by mashshare.net - Version: 4.0.47--><p>In Georgia, two third-party candidates, Cornel West and Claudia De la Cruz, have been removed from the ballot after a lawsuit filed\u200d by\u200c the Democratic Party, which cited\u2062 purported issues with their paperwork. A ruling by two Fulton\u200d County Superior Court judges led to their disqualification, although Green Party candidate \u200cJill Stein remains eligible to run. Both West and\u2064 De la Cruz plan to appeal this decision, \u2064claiming they were unjustly targeted to limit voter choice. <\/p>\n<p>The controversy arose shortly after Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had \u200capproved their candidacies, but he has\u200c since \u2064remained silent on this\u200b new ruling, previously expressing concern over \u200d&#8221;partisan activists&#8221; <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/us-targets-two-russian-spies-it-says-tried-to-influence-local-us-election\/\" title=\"US targets 2 Russian spies for meddling in local US election.\">undermining democratic processes<\/a>. While De la Cruz\u2064 criticized the \u2064Democratic Party for\u2064 trying to restrict voter options, the\u2062 party has been accused of employing extensive legal pressure across battleground states to eliminate competition from left-leaning third-party candidates in an effort to aid \u200bVice \u200dPresident Kamala Harris&#8217;s\u2062 campaign. This \u200blegal push reflects a broader strategy by Democrats to manage ballot access for third-party candidates, which has had mixed results in different states.  <\/p>\n<p class=\"readmore\">\n    <button onclick=\"showReadMore()\" id=\"readmorebtn\">Read more&#8230;<\/button>\n<\/p>\n<hr id=\"line\">\n<span id=\"more\"><\/p>\n<div>\n<p>Two third-party candidates will not appear on the ballot in Georgia after Democrats sued to remove their political opponents.<\/p>\n<p>Two Fulton County Superior Court Judges knocked third-party candidates Cornel West and Claudia De la Cruz off the Georgia ballot on Wednesday. Democrats challenged the candidates, alleging paperwork issues. Democrats also sought to block Green Party candidate Jill Stein from running for president in Georgia, though Stein will remain on the ballot.<\/p>\n<p>Both West&rsquo;s and De la Cruz&rsquo;s campaigns said they would appeal the decision, The Associated Press <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-presidential-election-ballot-cornel-west-cruz-cdcf0229fca52bd13f97384e53d0f638\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>.<\/p>\n<p>The decision came just weeks after Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger <a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/georgia-president-ballot-access-cornel-west-cruz-851d3c588d2b53f76bfe19adfb33ee3b\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">approved<\/a> West (an independent candidate) and De la Cruz (a Party of Socialism and Liberation nominee who qualified as an independent in Georgia) to appear on the ballot.<\/p>\n<p>Raffensperger hasn&rsquo;t come out with a statement following Wednesday&rsquo;s ruling, though he posted a <a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/GaSecofState\/status\/1833620672897007867\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">cryptic message<\/a> on X on Tuesday decrying &ldquo;Partisan activists&rdquo; who are &ldquo;attempting to tilt the scales of this election.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The law is clear, and these qualified candidates have a right to be on Georgia&rsquo;s ballot, and I will fight for voters&rsquo; rights every day to choose the candidate for whom they want to elect.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>Raffensperger previously permitted the two candidates to appear on the ballot after an administrative law judge ruled the duo were ineligible under state law, according to <a href=\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/briefs\/judge-says-four-independent-and-third-party-presidential-candidates-should-not-be-on-georgia-ballot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Georgia Recorder<\/a>. The judge&rsquo;s rule was <a href=\"https:\/\/georgiarecorder.com\/briefs\/de-la-cruz-stein-and-west-can-appear-on-georgias-ballot-top-election-official-says\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reportedly<\/a> not final. <\/p>\n<p>De la Cruz had celebrated Raffensperger&rsquo;s decision, calling it a &ldquo;victory for democracy,&rdquo; according to Georgia Recorder. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Democratic Party wanted to restrict the choices available to Georgia voters because they didn&rsquo;t want to compete with a socialist campaign that offers real solutions to the huge problems facing working people.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;We are proud to have stood up for our rights and the right of everyone in Georgia to vote for the candidate of their choosing. But this is not the end of the fight. Now, we are preparing to defend this legal victory from any appeal filed by the Democratic Party&rsquo;s well-funded army of lawyers who are waging war on third parties nationwide,&rdquo; De la Cruz reportedly continued. <\/p>\n<p>Democrats have unleashed a fleet of well-funded lawyers to block left-of-center third-party candidates from gaining ballot access in battleground states in a bid to protect Vice President Kamala Harris&rsquo; chances of victory. <\/p>\n<p>The party successfully booted West off the Michigan ballot in August after Democrats challenged his paperwork. West <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/19\/michigan-democrats-boot-third-party-candidate-cornel-west-off-november-ballot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">was told<\/a> his affidavit of identity was not properly notarized. <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/23\/democrats-crush-democracy-by-cutting-out-political-competition-in-swing-states\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Stein<\/a> was also challenged in Wisconsin as well as <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/14\/nevada-judge-smacks-down-democrat-bid-to-keep-green-party-off-2024-ballot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">Nevada<\/a> but survived the lawfare attempts.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/13\/rfk-jr-blocked-from-new-york-ballot-after-challenge-from-democrat-aligned-pac\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">successfully<\/a> fought to keep independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. off the New York ballot and launched similar efforts in states like Pennsylvania and Illinois.<\/p>\n<p>But after Kennedy announced he would drop off the ballot in certain states and endorse former President Donald Trump, Democrats began working overtime to force him to remain <em>on<\/em> the ballot in key swing states in a bid to hurt Trump. <\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;The Democrat-led North Carolina State Board of Elections narrowly voted to keep RFK Jr. on the November ballot,&rdquo; even though he asked to have his name removed, The Federalist&rsquo;s Matt Kittle <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/30\/dems-keep-rfk-jr-on-north-carolina-ballot-as-swing-state-spoiler-to-hurt-trump-campaign\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reported<\/a>. (The <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/biden-refusing-to-drop-out-remains-committed-to-second-debate-report\/\" title=\"Biden Refusing to Drop Out, Remains Committed to Second Debate: Report\">board&#038;rsquo<\/a>;s decision was ultimately <a href=\"https:\/\/thehill.com\/regulation\/court-battles\/4871613-north-carolina-supreme-court-rfk-jr-ballot-win\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">reversed<\/a> by the North Carolina Supreme Court.) The Michigan Supreme Court <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/09\/10\/michigan-supreme-court-lets-election-chief-add-rfk-jr-back-to-ballot\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">recently issued a ruling<\/a> that permits Democrat Secretary of State Jocelyn Benson to keep Kennedy&rsquo;s name on the ballot. Kennedy&rsquo;s name will also appear on the Wisconsin ballot <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/28\/dems-are-fighting-to-keep-rfk-jr-on-swing-state-ballots-as-potential-spoiler-against-trump\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">despite Kennedy<\/a> withdrawing his name. (Kennedy has since <a href=\"https:\/\/wisconsinexaminer.com\/briefs\/rfk-jr-asks-appeals-court-to-take-him-off-wisconsin-ballot\/\">asked<\/a> an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/federal-court-is-fast-tracking-sidney-powells-request-for-a-forensic-exam-of-dominion-voting-machines\/\" title=\"Federal Court Is Fast-Tracking Sidney Powell\u2019s Request For A Forensic Exam Of Dominion Voting Machines\">appeals court<\/a> to remove his name.)<\/p>\n<p>Former Ohio Democrat Congressman Dennis Kucinich <a href=\"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/2024\/08\/30\/dems-keep-rfk-jr-on-north-carolina-ballot-as-swing-state-spoiler-to-hurt-trump-campaign\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">told The Federalist&rsquo;s<\/a> Matt Kittle that Democrats are &ldquo;functioning as a cartel.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<p>&ldquo;I can&rsquo;t speak for the campaign, but on the one hand the DNC is trying to stop Robert F. Kennedy Jr.&rsquo;s access on the ballot and on the other hand they&rsquo;re trying to keep him on the ballot,&rdquo; Kucinich said. &ldquo;What this means is that the DNC is functioning as a cartel with interest groups that support it, and they don&rsquo;t want any competition.&rdquo;<\/p>\n<hr>\n<p>      Brianna Lyman is an elections correspondent at The Federalist. Brianna graduated from Fordham University with a degree in International Political Economy. Her work has been featured on Newsmax, Fox News, Fox Business and RealClearPolitics. Follow Brianna on X: @briannalyman2<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Two third-party candidates will be absent from the ballot in Georgia following a lawsuit by Democrats aimed at removing their political rivals. On Wednesday, two judges from Fulton County Superior Court ruled against third-party candidates Cornel West and Claudia De la Cruz, citing issues with their paperwork. Although Democrats attempted to disqualify Green Party candidate Jill Stein as well, she will remain on the ballot. Both West and De la Cruz plan to appeal the ruling, according to reports from The Associated Press.<\/p>\n<p>This decision comes shortly after Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger had approved both candidates for inclusion on the ballot. Raffensperger has not publicly commented on Wednesday&#8217;s ruling but previously expressed concerns about &#8220;partisan activists&#8221; trying to influence the election process through a post on X.<\/p>\n<p>Raffensperger stated that qualified candidates have a right to be included on Georgia&#8217;s ballot and emphasized his commitment to protecting voters&#8217; rights. He had initially allowed West and De la Cruz onto the ballot after an administrative law judge deemed them ineligible under state law; however, that ruling was reportedly not final.<\/p>\n<p>De la Cruz celebrated Raffensperger\u2019s earlier decision as a &#8220;victory for democracy,&#8221; arguing that Democrats were attempting to limit voter choices due to fears of competing with a socialist campaign offering real solutions for working-class issues. She asserted their determination to defend this legal victory against any appeals from Democratic lawyers who are actively working against third-party candidates nationwide.<\/p>\n<p>Democrats have mobilized significant legal resources in battleground states to prevent left-leaning third-party candidates from accessing ballots, aiming primarily at safeguarding Vice President Kamala Harris\u2019 electoral prospects. They successfully removed West from Michigan\u2019s ballot in August over paperwork discrepancies and challenged Stein in Wisconsin and Nevada but failed there.<\/p>\n<p>Additionally, they managed to keep independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. off New York&#8217;s ballot while pursuing similar actions in Pennsylvania and Illinois until he announced plans to withdraw his candidacy in certain states while endorsing former President Donald Trump\u2014prompting Democrats&#8217; renewed efforts for him to stay on ballots where it could potentially harm Trump\u2019s chances.<\/p>\n<p>Former Ohio Congressman Dennis Kucinich criticized these tactics as indicative of Democratic Party behavior akin to a cartel seeking no competition while simultaneously trying contradictory strategies regarding Kennedy&#8217;s candidacy access<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":74,"featured_media":2340925,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_mo_disable_npp":"","fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/39223972384_76592c2f18_k-e1726255232181.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[],"tags":[5521,6571,4977,16727],"class_list":["post-2340924","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","tag-democracy","tag-elections","tag-georgia","tag-lawfare"],"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/thefederalist.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/09\/39223972384_76592c2f18_k-e1726255232181.jpg","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340924","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/74"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=2340924"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/2340924\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2340925"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=2340924"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=2340924"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.conservativenewsdaily.net\/breaking-news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=2340924"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}