Chattooga County Probate Judge Gary Woods says that it is not clear what would happen if a prospective Republican candidate is not approved by the five-person  GOP committee that will be holding a vetting session to pre-qualify candidates tomorrow.

Judge Woods is the Chattooga County Election Superintendent.  He spoke with WZQZ News on Thursday and said that there is no clear direction for an appeal of the committee’s decision.  Woods said that would have to be determined, but it could wind up in Chattooga County Superior Court.  Woods said that the local party has not outlined any type of appeals process that he has been made aware of.

Woods, a Republican himself, will have to go before the committee to get their approval on Saturday, as will all other incumbent Republicans.

Woods did point out that if an incumbent Republican office holder is not approved by the vetting committee, that elected official still has the right to appear on the ballot and would be listed as “Incumbent – Independent”.

Anyone else that isn’t approved by the vetting committee and doesn’t want to run as a Democrat, would have to gather signatures to appear on the ballot as an independent.  The number of signatures needed would be 5% of the eligible voters in Chattooga County.  In 2020, there were 14,890 eligible voters in Chattooga County, so an independent candidate who is not an incumbent would need to get 745 signatures to appear on the General Election Ballot in November.