ALBANY, NY – A source tells us Andrew Cuomo has SUCCEEDED in inserting the same language into the 2020 New York State Budget to kill the Green Party that was struck down by a judge in March.

Governor Cuomo and the leaders of the State Legislature are attempting to use the current COVID-19 crisis to destroy the Green Party in New York by changing our state's ballot access requirements to be among the worst in the nation.

BALTIMORE – The Maryland Libertarian and Green Parties are calling on the General Assembly, Governor, and Board of Elections to place them on the ballot for the November general election, due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

Both parties have been petitioning throughout the state to each collect over 10,000 signatures to get back on the ballot, but their petition drives have ground to a halt, because of the COVID-19 outbreak.

BALTIMORE – The Maryland Green Party is calling on the General Assembly, Governor, and Board of Elections to place our party on the ballot for the November general election, due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

We have been petitioning throughout the state to collect over 10,000 signatures to get back on the ballot.

Our party's participation in the democratic process should not be made impossible or dangerous due to the declared public health emergency.

• But Greens Demand Emergency Relief Due to Coronavirus Pandemic

WHEATON, Il (March 24, 2020) –  The Illinois Green Party (ILGP) has placed its presidential candidate on the statewide election ballot in every presidential year since 2008, with over 117,000 Illinois voters choosing Green Party Senate candidate Scott Summers in 2016. Yet oppressive ballot access laws in Illinois -- among the worst in the nation -- repeatedly force the Greens to collect tens of thousands of petition signatures from registered voters in each election cycle just to get their candidates’ names on the ballot.

Third-party candidates may be off the ballot this November unless petitioning requirements are relaxed, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins told Yahoo News on Wednesday.

Hawkins said on the Yahoo News podcast “Skullduggery” that the Green Party may be unable to get on the ballot in as many as 30 states — including Illinois, Ohio, Wisconsin and Pennsylvania — due to state laws requiring third parties to collect thousands of signatures on ballots to qualify. Hawkins said it will be impossible to meet these requirements in light of White House guidelines urging citizens to stay at home and avoid social gatherings.

• Virginia Ballot Access Petitioning Requirements and COVID-19

The Green Party of Virginia sent the following statement today to the government of Virginia requesting that they waive the petitioning requirement for ballot access in light of the present pandemic.

• Strength Through Equality

TREATING AMERICA'S VIRAL INFECTION OF INJUSTICE.

The unfolding epidemic of COVID-19 (Coronavirus) infections has laid bare the weaknesses in this country's healthcare infrastructure as well as the massive inequalities and economic weaknesses of our country's abusive system.

Photo Credit: Rich Whitney, state Green Party co-chair, greets people on a sidewalk in Chicago in 2010 when he was a candidate for governor.(Jos M. Osorio / Chicago Tribune)

Tuesday marked the first day for independent and third-party contenders to start seeking voter petition signatures to make the November ballot, but their already difficult task has been made even tougher due to restrictions brought on by the coronavirus pandemic.

Even without any public health concerns, independent and third-party candidates had a tougher job to get on the ballot since they are required to get several times the signatures Republicans and Democrats need to qualify for their primary ballots.

• They must collect thousands of signatures for the petitions in Minnesota, a dangerous task amid the current pandemic. An executive order is needed.

On March 14, New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo suspended the signature-gathering process for candidates for political office in his state to reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus, while at the same time reducing the number of signatures that will be required for each office this year by approximately 70%.

Dear Governor Pritzker, President Harmon, Speaker Madigan, and Director Sandvoss,

For months, the Green Party has been preparing for the start of the petitioning period applicable to “new” political parties, which begins on March 24, 2020, and ends on June 22, 2020. The Illinois Green Party has held its nominating convention and has nominated Green Party candidates for the 2020 Illinois statewide ballot. (Under the Election Code, the Green Party was not eligible to participate in the state's Primary Election this year for statewide offices.)