A Georgia administrative law judge has ruled that four independent and third-party candidates, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr., Cornel West, Jill Stein, and Claudia De la Cruz, are ineligible to appear on the state's presidential ballot. The final decision will be made by Secretary of State Brad Raffensperger, who must act before military and overseas ballots are mailed on September 17. The Democratic Party challenged these candidates, aiming to prevent potential vote-splitting in a state Joe Biden won by just under 12,000 votes in 2020. In Illinois, the Green Party's Jill Stein and Libertarian candidate Scott Schluter were also removed from the ballot due to insufficient valid signatures. Meanwhile, Kennedy's candidacy remains despite his announcement to back Trump, as objections regarding his petition were deemed not fatal to his candidacy. This trend reflects a broader effort in various states to challenge independent candidates that could affect the presidential race dynamics.