Monday, Democrat Alan Powell, Independent Rusty Kidd and Republican Mark Hatfield introduced a ballot access bill that would completely eliminate the need for independent or third party candidates to gather signatures in order to appear on the ballot.
The summary of House Bill 1257 reads as follows:
A BILL to be entitled an Act to amend Chapter 2 of Title 21 of the Official Code of Georgia Annotated, relating to primaries and elections generally, so as to remove the requirement that political body and independent candidates file nomination petitions in order to gain ballot access; to provide for related matters; to repeal conflicting laws; and for other purposes. During the 2010 legislative session, several bills have been proposed lowering the threshold that third party and independent candidates must achieve before being awarded a spot on the ballot.
HB1257 is, by far, the most wide reaching.
The bill simply states that if you don’t want to qualify as a Democrat or a Republican, you pay your qualifying fee directly to the Secretary of State (or local election superintendent as the case may be) and you’re on the ballot as an independent.
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