Bell v. Raffensperger

Andrew Bell tried to run as an independent candidate for a Georgia House seat in the November 3, 2020 election. To qualify, he needed to submit thousands of valid voter signatures, and after COVID-19 related court orders lowered that number, he submitted his petition, but the Secretary of State's office found he had only 827 valid signatures, short of the 1,255 required. Bell asked a Fulton County judge to order the Secretary to put him on the ballot anyway, but the judge denied his request. Bell then appealed to the Supreme Court of Georgia, asking it to order the Secretary to place his name on the ballot or stop ballots from being printed without his name. By the time his appeal reached the court, though, the ballots had already been printed, early voting had happened, the general election and a runoff had taken place, and the results had been certified with the incumbent winning the seat. Because there was no longer any ballot to place Bell's name on, the court dismissed his appeal as moot without deciding whether he actually had enough valid signatures.

An appeal seeking to compel a candidate's placement on a ballot, or to stop ballots from being printed, becomes moot once the election has already occurred and the ballots have been printed, cast, and counted, because the court can no longer grant the specific relief requested.

The ruling reminds independent and third-party candidates that election-related appeals move on a strict clock: once ballots are printed and an election is certified, courts generally cannot undo it. Candidates must seek expedited review promptly to preserve any real chance of relief.

Appeal dismissed as moot

1. Georgia law lets a candidate whose nomination petition is denied ask a superior court for a writ of mandamus, a court order compelling a government official to perform a legal duty, and then appeal that court's ruling to the Supreme Court of Georgia.
2. Georgia law also requires an appeal to be dismissed once the questions it raises have become moot, meaning the court can no longer give the specific relief the appellant asked for through a real judicial decision.
3. The court explained that in election cases, an appeal is moot specifically when the requested relief, such as placing a name on a not-yet-printed ballot, can no longer be granted, not merely because an election has generally occurred.
4. Applying that rule here, the ballots for the House District 85 race had already been printed, early voting had already occurred, and the general election and runoff had both taken place and been certified by the time Bell's appeal reached the court.
5. Because there was no longer any ballot on which Bell's name could be placed and no election left to stop, the court could not grant either the mandamus or injunctive relief he sought, making the appeal moot regardless of whether his signatures were sufficient.

• ballot access
• independent candidate
• mandamus
• mootness
• House District 85