U.S. District Court Judge Richard W. Story has told attorneys that he will rule on Green Party of Georgia v Kemp this week. The issue is the law requiring approximately 50,000 signatures for an independent presidential candidate, or the presidential nominee of an unqualified party, to get on the ballot. The case is four years old. The plaintiffs are the Green and Constitution Parties.
Do you know offhand what relief the plaintiffs have asked for?
That the law be declared unconstitutional.
But nothing specific about what they want to replace it　then.
Normally it is not the job of a judge to write a new law to replace one that has been struck down. That is for the legislature.
However, in the middle of election season, sometimes judges not only strike down the law, they rule as to what should replace it until the legislature can fix it. In this case, the judge has asked both sides for suggestions, and there seems to be a feeling on both sides that 5,000 would work for 2016.
Thank you, Richard. I figured that, with the case having gone a full Presidential cycle and nearing the end of this one, there might be some movement toward a new standard by the parties if not the court — since evidently the Legislature hasn’t acted in all that time.