Jeff Amason Demands Placement On Nov. 4 Ballot

Staff Report

Libertarian candidate Jeff Amason on Monday said he is seeking a mandamus relief to force the Georgia Secretary of State’s Election Division to place his name on the November ballot for the Georgia House District 21 seat.

Amason said he filed the request in Fulton County Superior Court.

The state agency last week disqualified his petition to be placed on the Nov. 4 general election ballot.

According to Amason’s campaign, the Secretary of State’s office has previously provided proof that it submitted more than enough valid signatures needed to appear on the ballot.

However, conflicting Georgia statutes have “caused the Elections Division to deny ballot access to Jeff Amason based upon a notary clause; despite having gathered more than the required number of valid petition signatures by the July 8 deadline,” the campaign said.

“As a Libertarian, I am committed to ensuring all Georgia voters are represented equally,” Amason added. “I plan to fight this attempt to prevent the people from being heard by artificially restricting ballot access. This is another instance, in a long line of examples, where the will of the people has been subverted. Libertarians will always fight for what is right and will continue to promote the ideals that are the foundation of this nation.”

Jared Thomas, a spokesperson for the Georgia Secretary of State’s office, cited Georgia code section 21-2-170 as the reason why the agency disqualified Amason’s petition.

The code stipulates no notary public can sign a petition as an elector or serve as a circulator of a petition he or she has notarized.

Thomas noted Amason’s wife served as a notary on many of the petition’s pages. She, along with another person who also notarized the petition, also served as petition circulator and signed the petition.

“The law states that any pages notarized by a person who also circulated and/or signed the petition have to be disqualified,” Thomas added.

Amason is seeking to challenge incumbent Republican Scot Turner for the seat, which covers Holly Springs, Hickory Flat and portions of Canton and southeast Cherokee County.

State election rules dictate Amason, as well as any third-party or independent candidate, have to get 5 percent of signatures from registered voters in the district who were eligible to vote in 2012. Amason said he collected over 2,700 signatures in his petition drive.

Photo credit: Sherwin Lee