The Longmont Colorado Green Party is scheduled to host a “Break The System” forum for various congressional candidates on Jan. 5. The free, virtual event will occur from 5-6 p.m. online and may be viewed via Zoom. Those interested in watching can register ahead of time by visiting longmontgp.org. Continue reading

On November 28, 2023, the Arizona Green Party submitted its petition for party status. It had approximately 63,000 signatures. The requirement is 34,116. Assuming the petition is valid, the party will be on the Arizona ballot for 2024 and 2026. In Arizona, when a party submits a petition, it gets the next two elections. Continue reading

COLUMBIA, Mo. — Outside the bustle of the Columbia Farmers Market, Les Hahn was busy selling registered voters on an alternative political party’s quest to make the Missouri ballot in 2024. The Missouri Green Party, with none of its statewide candidates winning at least 2% of the vote in 2018 and 2020, failed to make Missouri’s ballot last year. Continue reading

May Threaten Third Party Ballot Access in New York State Libertarian and Green Parties contend that a two-thirds supermajority in New York legislature and no ballot access for third parties makes it a one-party state. The U.S. Supreme Court has issued a decision to deny the writ of certiorari petition for an appeal brought forth by the Libertarian Party of New York and the Green Party of New York, concluding their legal battle over New York State’s ballot access thresholds. The petition, which was filed on March 13, 2023, sought to challenge the increase in ballot access requirements implemented in 2020. Continue reading

PHOENIX — The Arizona Green Party is collecting signatures to register as a new party after losing party recognition in the state in 2019. If the party is successful, it will be ballot eligible for the 2024 elections. Parties looking to qualify for recognition must submit at least 34,127 valid signatures to the Secretary of State’s office by Nov. 30. In order to ensure enough signatures are valid, the Green Party is aiming to collect 70,000 signatures by that date and had collected 41,601 as of Sept. 30. Continue reading

The U.S. Supreme Court will not hear a challenge to New York's 2020 election reform laws that raised the threshold for third political parties to appear on the ballot. In the past, to achieve statewide ballot status, minor political parties needed to earn 50,000 votes for their candidates in the previous election. In other words, they needed 50,000 votes to qualify for the ballot every four years – rules that have been in place for decades. The law passed three years ago now requires that minor parties garner 130,000 votes or 2% of votes cast. Failure to do so would mean removal from the ballot in the next cycle. In addition, they demand that qualifications occur every two years, rather than four, at the gubernatorial and presidential elections. Continue reading

Over the past couple of months, columnist Harriet Hausman has written several pieces that can generally be grouped under the topic of “defending American democracy.” Her recent column of Aug. 30 was entitled, “Highest priority: voting rights.” We, the West Side Greens, both applaud Harriet and share her concern about the threats to democracy. We wish to put forth the position that what is needed at present is an expansion of democracy. Continue reading

Pine Ridge organizer Shaun Little Horn corrects my report on the Green Party’s petition drive for official party status in South Dakota. The Greens had posted online last month that they were “just 2000 signatures away from securing ballot access for our candidates.” Given it takes 3,502 signatures to qualify as an official party, that figure suggested the Greens had 1,500 signatures in hand, a rather slim increase from the 1,000 they said they had on their petition a year ago. Continue reading