On September 23, U.S. District Court Judge Leigh Martin May, an Obama appointee, upheld the Georgia petition requirement for U.S. House, for independent candidates and the nominees of parties that didn’t poll as much as 20% for president in the entire U.S., or for Governor of Georgia. Cowen v Raffensperger, n.d., 1:17cv-4660.
The decision is only fifteen pages, and the first nine pages are simply a recitation of the history of the case and a description of the existing law, which is so severe, no minor party candidate has ever used it (since it was created in 1943), and no independent has used it since 1964.
The basis for the decision is simply that the law was upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1971 in Jenness v Fortson, and also by the Eleventh Circuit in several cases since. It concludes, “Thus, while Plaintiffs present a robust record and some compelling arguments, the Court cannot ignore the fact that similar challenges to the Georgia Election Code have been rejected by higher courts. The Court is bound by the clear rulings of both the Eleventh Circuit and the Supreme Court.”
The decision does not mention that the U.S. Supreme Court has twice said that laws that are seldom used are probably unconstitutional. The decision also does not mention that two U.S. Supreme Court decisions say states can’t require more signatures for office in just part of the state, than for statewide office. Since 2016, Georgia has only required 7,500 signatures for president, but approximately 20,000 for U.S. House. That characteristic of Georgia law did not exist when those earlier unfavorable precedents were issued.
