Mary Norwood to Submit 23,000 Signatures to Get on the Ballot as an Independent Candidate for Fulton County Commission Chair

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Appears Before the Board of Elections at 2pm, Room 4056, to Address Filing Deadline

ATLANTA – Today, July 13, 2010, Mary Norwood, Independent candidate for Fulton County Commission Chair, plans to submit more than 23,000 signatures in her effort to gain ballot access for the November 2010 election. Norwood, her supporters and Christina Tobin, CEO of Free & Equal Inc., will present the petition forms to Barry Garner, director of Fulton County Registration and Elections at 11 a.m. at the Georgia State Board of Elections, 141 Pryor Street, Room 4075.

“Gathering 23,000 signatures was a herculean effort, and was only made possible by the groundswell of support from individuals in every part of Fulton County. Today, we created history by meeting one of the toughest ballot access requirements for an independent candidate in a county race in the entire U.S.,” Norwood said. “We can all be proud of our efforts.”

Norwood’s campaign team has worked tirelessly to produce the required number of signatures, totaling five percent of Fulton County registered voters in the 2008 election. Barry Garner and his staff will expeditiously review the petitions.

June 18th, Norwood hired professional petition gathering firm, Free and Equal, to amplify and reinforce the campaign’s efforts to obtain signatures. “It is a shame that candidates need to utilize professional signature gathering firms like ours to gain access to the ballot. We were pleased to augment the efforts of Mary Norwood in her campaign to get on the ballot as an independent candidate,” Tobin said. “Georgia’s ballot access seems designed to limit voter choice to two candidates from major parties. While this has been the history of the state, today’s presentation of the 23,000 signatures shows how important the independent voters’ voice is in elections in Georgia and other states.”

Norwood and her attorneys will present at 2 p.m. to the five-member Board of Registration and Elections, in Room 4056, her case for her to be a candidate on the ballot. The board will, at this meeting, vote to decide Norwood’s right to be on the ballot in November.

“Ballot access was never intended to have such onerous hurdles. In the democracy created by our Founding Fathers, any individual with the desire to enter public service should have a fair chance to be elected by the public to serve them,” added Norwood, who promises to assist other candidates in the future with their fight to gain ballot access in Georgia and other states.

The Board of Registration and Elections will also, at a later date, review the validity of several thousand signatures on a petition form with the word “Fulton” preprinted in the county space that was approved by the Fulton County Department of Registration and Elections’ chief administrative officer and director. Norwood’s campaign is hopeful that the Board will validate the signatures by the law, their department’s written approval and common sense.

“Only with the name recognition of a Mary Norwood could this petition drive be this successful,” Tobin commented. “Georgia is one of the most difficult states to qualify as a non-political party member, even with superior name recognition in this effort.”

“My future political efforts will be centered on how to make ballot access in Georgia and other states more accessible,” Tobin said. “Georgia requires candidates from outside the two major parties to get signatures from 5% of the registered voters. That is the highest signature requirement in the United States. Because of that high ballot access barrier, Georgia has had fewer presidential candidates on the ballot in the last 30 years than any other state.”

“Another restriction to ballot access is that Georgia’s state definition of “political party” is a group that receives 20% of the vote for president in the entire U.S. or 20% for governor of Georgia,” Tobin said. “No party other than the Democrats and Republicans has met that definition in Georgia since 1912 when the Progressive “Bull Moose” Party got 27% for president in the entire U.S. The last 3rd party candidate for Georgia governor to receive 20% or more was in 1898. When a state like Georgia goes as long as it has without independent and 3rd party competition on the ballot, that is a sure sign that change is needed.”

Proponents of ballot access in Georgia and Norwood supporters will be in attendance at the 11 a.m. and 2 p.m. meetings at the Fulton County Government Center, located at 141 Pryor Street. The petition forms submissions will occur in Room 4075 and the 2 p.m. vote by the Board of Registration and Elections will take place in Room 4056.

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Topics: Georgia