ATLANTA (AP) 鈥� Three independent and third-party candidates got one step closer to appearing on Georgia's presidential ballot on Tuesday. But legal challenges still loom.
Georgia Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger announced that officials have verified that independents and and Claudia De la Cruz of the Party for Socialism and Liberation each collected more than the 7,500 signatures needed to qualify.
Raffensperger said 11,336 signatures were accepted for Kennedy after county election officials reviewed petitions, while 8,075 were accepted for Cornel West and 7,682 were accepted for De la Cruz.
While Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians have secure places on the Georgia ballot, other parties and independent candidates can qualify by petition.
But Georgia Democrats are still legally challenging efforts to place the three candidates and Green Party nominee on Georgia's ballots. It is part of a nationwide effort to block candidates who could siphon votes from Vice President .
Hearings on the Georgia challenges are scheduled to begin Monday. After an administrative law judge makes a recommendation, Raffensperger will issue a final ruling. A decision must be made in time for Georgia to mail military and overseas ballots beginning Sept. 17.
While some other states routinely put minor-party and independent candidates on ballots, Georgia voters haven鈥檛 had more than four options since 1948. The last time there were any candidates besides a Republican, Democrat and Libertarian was in 2000, when independent Pat Buchanan qualified.
Kennedy was earlier this week when a judge ruled that the address in New York City鈥檚 suburbs that Kennedy listed as a residence on nominating petitions was a 鈥渟ham鈥� address he used to maintain his voter registration and to further his political aspirations. The judge ruled in favor of challengers who argued Kennedy鈥檚 actual residence was the home in Los Angeles he shares with his wife, the 鈥淐urb Your Enthusiasm鈥� actor Cheryl Hines. Kennedy has vowed to appeal
It is unclear if Kennedy's home address will be an issue in the Georgia hearings. Democrats have alleged that all the petitions followed improper procedures, making them invalid. The Kennedy campaign's Paul Rossi said in a July 31 online news conference that there was nothing wrong with the campaign's petitions, with Rossi describing the allegations as 鈥渢hrowing spaghetti at the wall.鈥�
鈥淏ecause they can鈥檛 challenge the signatures, they鈥檝e made allegations which are simply not correct at all,鈥� Rossi said.
Until this year, the only road to getting on the ballot in Georgia was by collecting signatures from 7,500 registered voters statewide. But Georgia's Republican-majority legislature directing the secretary of state to also place on the ballot candidates of any party that makes ballots in at least 20 other states. That move was widely interpreted as trying to make trouble for Biden, although former President Donald Trump's Republican campaign has also regarded the Kennedy campaign .
The Green Party, which has nominated Stein, says it aims to make Georgia ballots using the 20-state rule.
Jeff Amy, The Associated Press
