BALTIMORE – Last night the Maryland Green Party filed a lawsuit in Federal Court against Governor Larry Hogan and State Board of Elections Administrator Linda Lamone in order to challenge the unconstitutional application of Maryland’s ballot access laws during the COVID-19 State of Emergency.

Since early March when we suspended our in-person petitioning efforts, we have been lobbying the State of Maryland for two demands: 1) allow electronic signature collection and 2) lower the signature threshold to account for the impossibility of petitioning during a global pandemic.

PHILADELPHIA – Many Pennsylvania Greens are aware that Jill Stein sued the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania following the 2016 election to reveal that voters could not demand a recount of voting machines that were unverifiable. The subsequent settlement, among other things, required a true paper ballot. Once the counties started purchasing the machines, Stein’s committee found that the Election Systems & Software ExpressVote XL (ES&SXL) did not provide a true paper ballot. She therefore reopened the settlement in November 2019. I was a plaintiff as well an observer in the courtroom in the reopening of the settlement. I also observed the mostly thankless role which Jill Stein had in doing what was right for the voters. Judge Paul S. Diamond released his opinion on April 29, and it was not favorable.

PHILADELPHIA – On May 15, the Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA) filed suit in the U.S. Court for the Eastern District of PA, demanding relief from unconstitutional election laws which are impossible to meet under emergency COVID-19 measures declared by PA Governor Tom Wolf.

PA election rules require a minimum of 5,000 voter signatures for state-wide candidates to be awarded space on the ballot. This involves the effort of dozens of volunteers and hundreds of hours of labor to collect signatures in public before the early August deadline. Under Wolf’s stay-at-home order, volunteers will not be allowed to circulate in public, and there will be no public gatherings for them to attend.

FALLS CHURCH, Va – The Green Party of Virginia (GPVA), along with the Constitution Party and independent candidates, joined a lawsuit this week asking for a waiver of signature requirements for ballot access in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and Governor Northam's pursuant emergency stay-at-home order for the state. The GPVA has successfully met the ballot signature requirements for every candidate it has run, including presidential candidates in every presidential election, for at least the previous 12 years.

Third parties in Maryland are feeling squeezed by a stay-at-home directive that's canceling farmers markets and festivals ― and keeping Marylanders out of the joyous crowds where volunteers usually seek petition signatures to keep their access to Maryland ballots.

The Green Party and Libertarian Party ― as well as independent candidates, backers of charter amendments and other ballot question efforts ― have been petitioning the State Board of Elections for relief in recent weeks.

May 2, 2:00 p.m.: Candidate Forum

BOYNTON BEACH, FL – The Green Party of Florida is kicking off their Presidential Primary on May 2nd starting at 2:00 p.m. with an online Presidential Candidate Forum featuring (at least) our two front-runners for the nomination, Howie Hawkins and Dario Hunter. (All 3 qualified candidates have been invited, the 3rd being David Rolde.) We will be streaming live on Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC7QIIszuu5fgoetLuRyfdoQ and Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/GreenPartyofFlorida and the candidates will be fielding questions from the audience, (you!).

WHEATON, IL – Justice is something for which we constantly struggle but only occasionally obtain in the U.S. legal system. Once in a while, though, we get a measure of it. And we are pleased to announce that this just occurred in the lawsuit we recently filed in federal court in the Northern District of Illinois.

As explained in the last newsletter from the Illinois Green Party, Illinois has among the most repressive ballot access laws in the nation, requiring so-called “new” parties to gather 25,000 petition signatures from registered voters, in just 90 days, in order to get their candidates’ names on the November ballot. We have achieved that monumental task a number of times in the last 20 years. However, the public-health measures now in place in response to the COVID-19 pandemic made petitioning virtually impossible.

• If a minor party was on the ballot in either 2016 or 2018 for an office that is up in 2020, then it is automatically on the ballot for those same offices in 2020

On April 21, U.S. District Court Judge Rebecca Pallmeyer, a Clinton appointee, orally described substantial relief she intends to order for minor party and independent candidates for the Illinois 2020 election. Candidates will need 10% of the original legal requirement. The petition deadline is extended from June 22 to August 7. Signatures can be obtained on a signer’s computer via an electronic signature, although the candidate or party must then print out the results and transport a piece of paper to election officials. The order is being drafted but does not yet exist on paper.

ALBANY, NY – We hope you are keeping well and safe during the COVID-19 pandemic although we know our state has been severely impacted by this public health crisis. The Green Party of New York has taken this into consideration so the 2020 presidential preference vote will be conducted by absentee ballot instead of an in-person State Party Nominating Convention. 

All GPNY Members (enrolled New York State Greens and Supporting Members legally barred from registering to vote) are invited to participate in our presidential preference vote by absentee ballot.

Download, print, and mail to the address listed on the absentee ballot linked here

Ballots must be postmarked by May 9th.

The Green Party of the United States has announced lawsuits have been filed in Illinois and Georgia to stop Democratic- and Republican-run boards of elections from exploiting COVID-19, social distancing and shelter-in-place guidelines that prevent the Green Party from gathering petition signatures for candidates. The Green Party has been appealing to governors across the nation for emergency ballot access relief for candidates in the interest of public health and safety. Lawsuits in more states are being explored if officials do not respond.