The party’s candidates have frequently forced Democrats and Republicans into runoff races that extend the election calendar into the holidays.
Democratic U.S. Sen. Jon Ossoff, left, and Republican U.S. Senate nominee Mike Collins. (Arvin Temkar/AJC)
One of the biggest wild cards in Georgia politics won’t be on the November ballot. It means there likely won’t be statewide runoff races in Georgia this year.
The Libertarian Party of Georgia said it can’t submit the roughly 72,000 signatures required by the Tuesday deadline to qualify statewide candidates for the ballot.
It means Georgia voters won’t have a Libertarian option in statewide races in November, removing third-party candidates that have repeatedly forced high-profile contests into overtime elections.
“It is clear that the current law exists simply to advantage Democrats and Republicans, who have never had to petition to get onto the ballot as they were grandfathered in when the law was first written,” said Brian Allen, the party’s acting chair.
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Democratic nominee for governor Keisha Lance Bottoms, left, and Republican nominee for governor Rick Jackson. (Arvin Temkar and Jason Getz/AJC)
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Reshaping politics
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Greg Bluestein is the Atlanta Journal Constitution’s chief political reporter. He is also an author, TV analyst and co-host of the Politically Georgia podcast.
