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January 12, 2012

Anonymous Dalton Daily Citizen The Dalton Daily Citizen Thu Jan 12, 2012, 04:27 AM EST

USA Today recently reported that more than 2.8 million voters have left the Democratic and Republican parties since 2008.

The newspaper looked at registration numbers in those 28 states that allow voters to declare their party affiliation when registering (Georgia is not one of them). It found that the number of registered Democrats had dropped in 25 states, and the number of Republicans had dropped in 21.

Yet across the country, voters still find they are limited to the nominees of those two parties in most partisan races. The reason is simple. Laws in all states guarantee the major party candidates a place on the ballot, but the laws in most states make it difficult, sometimes exceedingly difficult, for independent and third party candidates to get on the ballot in partisan races.

And Georgia has some of the toughest ballot restrictions in the nation. At the state level, independent and third party candidates need to get the signatures of 1 percent of registered voters to get on the ballot. If a party gets on the ballot for a statewide race, it can maintain its place on the ballot in future elections if at least one of its candidates gets 1 percent of the vote. The Libertarian Party is usually the only other party in Georgia with ballot access for state races because its candidates typically get more than 1 percent of the vote.

Consumer activist Ralph Nader ran for president in 2000, 2004 and 2008 and finished third in total votes each time. But he never appeared on the Georgia ballot.

Georgia’s requirements for down-ballot races are even tougher.

First, candidates have to collect the signatures of 5 percent of the registered voters in the area they would represent. They also face high filing fees and time limits on when they can gather the signatures.

Richard Winger, editor of Ballot Access News, writes that since such laws took effect in 1964, no independent or third party candidate has qualified to run for the U.S. House of Representatives.

Georgia Secretary of State Brian Kemp has put together an advisory council on elections that should issue a report soon. One suggestion the council heard during hearings last year was to make it easier for independent and third party candidates to get on Georgia ballots. We hope that suggestion makes it into the report.

But we fear that the one thing Republicans and Democrats agree upon in this state is preserving their hold on November ballots.

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