Ballot access requirements for political parties in Georgia

Ballot access for major and minor party candidates


Ballot access for presidential candidates
List of political parties in the United States
Methods for signing candidate nominating petitions
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Note: This article is not intended to serve as an exhaustive guide to running for public office. Individuals should contact their state election agencies for further information.

Although there are hundreds of political parties in the United States, only certain parties qualify to have the names of their candidates for office printed on election ballots. In order to qualify for ballot placement, a party must meet certain requirements that vary from state to state. For example, in some states, a party may have to file a petition in order to qualify for ballot placement. In other states, a party must organize around a candidate for a specific office; that candidate must, in turn, win a percentage of the vote in order for the party to be granted ballot status. In still other states, an aspiring political party must register a certain number of voters.

HIGHLIGHTS

As of May 2024, Georgia officially recognized two political parties: the Democratic and Republican parties.

In some states, a candidate may choose to have a label other than that of an officially recognized party appear alongside his or her name on the ballot. Such labels are called political party designations. Georgia allows candidates to use political party designations.

To learn more about ballot access requirements for political candidates in Georgia, see this article.

See state election laws

Process for a political party to obtain ballot status[edit]

Seal of Georgia

See statutes: Title 21, Chapter 2 of the Georgia Code

Official political party status in Georgia is determined by the number of votes a candidate receives at a presidential or gubernatorial election. To be recognized as a party by the state, a party's candidate for governor or president must have received 20 percent of the vote cast for those offices at the last general election. If a group's candidate does not receive enough votes, the group is considered a political organization.^[1]

Registering a new political organization[edit]

A new political organization must file a registration statement with the Georgia Secretary of State, along with a $10 filing fee, within 60 days of its organization. The registration statement must contain the following information:^[2]

name of the political organization
date and location of the organization's creation
general purposes for which the organization was created
address of the main office
certified copies of any charters, bylaws, rules, regulations, or other operational documents
names, addresses, and titles of officers and members of governing committees

The registration statement of a new political organization will not be approved if the name of the organization is the same as or deceptively similar to any already established political parties or political organizations.^[2]

If any information in the registration statement changes, an amendment describing the changes must be filed with the Georgia Secretary of State within 30 days of the change. An additional $2 filing fee must be paid for each amendment.^[2]

Regardless of the date it was organized, a political organization must file its registration statement at least 60 days before any election its members wish to participate in. If the registration statement is not filed 60 days before an election, neither the political organization nor its candidates will be allowed on the ballot.^[2]

Once a political organization is registered, it may nominate candidates for placement on the general election ballot. The political organization can nominate candidates by convention if one of the following criteria is met:^[3]

if, at the preceding general election, the political organization's candidate for statewide office received a number of votes equal to 1 percent of the registered voters who were eligible to vote in that election
if the political organization files a petition signed by a number of registered voters equal to 1 percent of the registered voters who were eligible to vote in the last general election; this petition must be filed by noon on the second Tuesday in July

If the political organization does not qualify to nominate its statewide candidates by convention, those candidates must be nominated by petition, as district and county candidates are, following the same requirements that apply to independent candidates.^[4]

Political parties[edit]

See also: List of political parties in the United States

As of May 2024, Georgia officially recognized two political parties. ^[5]

Party	Website link	By-laws/Platform link
Democratic Party of Georgia	Link	Party platform
Republican Party of Georgia	Link	Party platform

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Footnotes[edit]

[1] Georgia Code, "Section 21-2-2," accessed February 5, 2014

[gacode110-2] 2.0 ^2.1 ^2.2 ^2.3 Georgia Code, "Section 21-2-110," accessed February 5, 2014

[3] Georgia Code, "Section 21-2-180," accessed February 5, 2014

[gacode170-4] Georgia Code, "Section 21-2-170," accessed February 4, 2014

[5] Georgia Secretary of State, "2022 QUALIFYING Reference Calendar & Documents," accessed May 20, 2024

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