Anderson v. Poythress

Presidential candidate John Anderson appeals from the superior court’s denial of his application for a writ of mandamus to compel the Secretary of State to accept his nomination petition and to place his name on the general election ballot.

The essential facts were stipulated by the parties. Anderson needed 57,539 valid signatures of registered voters on his nomination petition in order to have his name placed on ballots prepared for the November 4, 1980, Georgia general election. On July 9, 1980, he submitted 70,649 signatures, but 16,170 of these were found by the Secretary to be invalid.…