Another Jungle Primary And Ballot Access in Georgia

Items from my political notebook as march toward the 2020 general election:

We’ve provided plenty of coverage to the “jungle primary” for the United States Senate seat in Georgia which will determine who succeeds the retired Johnny Isakson.

Now there will be another “jungle primary” for the 5th congressional district following the passing of civil rights icon John Lewis in recent weeks. The “all candidates on one ballot” primary for the U.S. Senate seat has confused many with questions such as “why isn’t this race on the primary ballot?”

The jungle primary for the fifth congressional district takes even more patience to sort through and grasp. Let’s try to explain it:

Since Lewis died after the primary was held, that meant there was no Democratic candidate for the general election. (It seems perhaps the candidate who finished in second would move up but that’s not how the law is in Georgia.)

The state Democratic Party then selected a replacement for Lewis on the November general election ballot. That choice was state senator Nikema Williams who will face Republican Angela Stanton-King in November.

The problem arises in that currently no one is representing the fifth district. Therefore, by Georgia law, a special election has to be held. The winner of this race (separate from the general election contest) will then fill out the remainder of Lewis’ current term which will be however many days remain in the 2020 calendar year.

The special election will be September 29 with a runoff (very possible) to be December 1. That means the winner could very well represent the district for a grand total of one month.

Williams decided not to run in the special election to “concentrate on the general election.” Hmmm.

The whole special election to fill a term that could only be another month is a complete waste of taxpayer money. The 5th District is heavily Democratic so the majority of voters surely didn’t want Gov. Kemp appointing someone.

Candidates for that special election include:

•Robert Franklin, Democrat, former president of Morehouse College.

•Kwanza Hall, Democrat, former Atlanta city councilman and candidate for mayor.

•Barrington Martin, Democrat, educator who was an opponent of Lewis in the June primary.

•Steven Muhammad, independent, minister from East Point.

•Chase Oliver, Libertarian, customer service specialist who is active in the state Libertarian Party.

•Mable Thomas, Democratic, has served more than two decades in the General Assembly.

•Keisha Waites, Democrat, former state legislature who almost pushed 13th District Congressman David Scott into a runoff last month in the primary.

Georgia Ballot Access: The number of signatures required for a third party or independent candidate in Georgia for the 2020 general election was lowered by a recent court order.

In the case of Cooper vs. Raffensperger, the plaintiff argued due to the ongoing health crisis in the state (and the country) the ability to collect signatures in public was severely limited.

The Secretary of State’s office did not object to lowering the requirement but contended it did not have the right to lower the amount.

The decision has lowered the required number of signatures needed to get on the ballot for races from president to congress. The Georgia Green Party has started collecting the needed 5,250 signatures for presidential candidate Howie Hawkins of New York.

It will still be a tough battle in the current environment. Georgia has some of the toughest ballot access laws in the country. Other states typically have numerous candidates for president on their general election ballot.

Chris Bridges is a veteran community newspaper writer who has contributed to The Monticello News since 1988. He welcomes feedback from readers about this column at pchrisbridges@gmail.com.