Jeff Amason Weighing Legal Options For Petition Rejection

The Libertarian candidate who is campaigning for the State House District 21 seat said he will review his options after the Georgia Secretary of State's office has disqualified his petition to be placed on the Nov. 4 general election ballot. 

Jeff Amason's campaign said it's "surprised" to learn the state agency "denied ballot access based upon a notary technicality." 

The campaign stated it believes the interpretation of the law is "erroneous and ignores the will of the people,' and said it will consider legal actions to "right this injustice." 

"We are very troubled by the Secretary of State decision," Jeff Amason said in a prepared statement. "Our campaign staff has been diligent in following the letter of the law for ballot access petitioning."

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 said he believes the his campaign's understanding of the notary requirements is different from the Secretary of State's Office, adding they believe the agency's position is based upon "conflicting requirements." 

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, had 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.