GOP Group Investigating Having Hillary Clinton Removed From the Georgia Presidential Ballot

The Eleventh District Committee of the Georgia Republican Party is studying the possibility of having Democratic presidential candidate Hillary Clinton removed from the Georgia ballot in November. The effort is based on an assumption that the former Secretary of State mishandled classified emails that were stored on her home server, and that under federal law, anyone who does improperly handle classified information is ineligible to hold a federal office. In June, F.B.I. Director James Comey recommended that Clinton not be prosecuted for her handling of the classified information because she did not intentionally mishandle the classified information she had, a recommendation accepted by Attorney General Loretta Lynch.

If the Eleventh District Committee voted to act, it would petition Secretary of State Brian Kemp to strike Secretary Clinton from the Georgia ballot under the authority he has as Secretary of State because she is not qualified to run. Should Secretary Kemp not take any action, there is a possibility that a Writ of Mandamus would be filed in order to compel him to fulfill the duties of his office.

Eleventh District First Vice-Chairman Maury Nunes made the idea for the petition public at Monday night’s Georgia Republican Foundation reception in downtown Atlanta. Reaction from those in attendance, mostly GOP officials and foundation donors, was reportedly tepid. If the District Committee decided to pursue the petition idea, they would hope for support from other county and district parties, which would strengthen the legitimacy of the idea.

Should the committee decide to proceed, they would need to do so fairly quickly. The first round of absentee ballots are scheduled to be mailed out on September 20th.