A report this week by Kyle Ingram of the Raleigh News & Observer revealed that an ugly tactic — that of a major party trying to bully third-party candidates off the ballot to improve their own chances — has returned in North Carolina.
In 2022, the Democratic Party really, really wanted their candidate, former state Supreme Court Justice Cheri Beasley, to defeat Republican (and ultimate victor) Ted Budd in the US Senate race. They made the calculation that this could not be done with Green Party candidate Matthew Hoh appearing alongside Beasley as an option for left-wing voters. So, they decided to go all out trying to get Hoh, whose Green Party successfully secured enough signatures, disqualified.
The Arizona Green Party’s primary for the U.S. Senate is developing into a fierce contest, but the group’s leaders say it is a mirage: Both candidates listed on the ballot have drawn suspicion of being plants for Democrats and Republicans in a race that could decide control of the chamber.
The only two Green Party candidates that could appear on primary ballots in the race for Arizona’s open U.S. Senate seat have no connections to the Arizona Green Party, a party official said.
Scottsdale resident Mike Norton and Yuma resident Arturo Hernandez both gathered more than the 1,288 signatures required to qualify for the Green Party’s U.S. Senate primary in July. Both candidates entered the race in March, just weeks before the deadline to turn in those signatures.
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The party can't legitimately claim to be saving democracy while aggressively limiting voter choice
ALBANY — Democrats tell us the coming election is about saving democracy. If Joe Biden loses, the claim goes, this little experiment of ours may end.
"Whether democracy is still America's sacred cause is the most urgent question of our time," Biden said recently. "And it's what the 2024 election is all about."
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The recent consolidation of primaries in June means that petition-gathering season now falls in the middle of upstate’s elongated winter.
ALBANY, NY — Democrats have made some of the most sweeping reforms to New York’s election law in over a century since they assumed sole control of Albany in 2019. Changes like early voting, eased registration deadlines, and new rules for voting by mail have made it easier than ever to cast a vote.
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May Threaten Third Party Ballot Access in New York State
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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.
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.
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.
A key goal for the Green Party each election cycle is for state green parties to gain or retain ballot access, which ensures a line on the ballot for Green candidates for upcoming elections. Having an ongoing ballot line means easier ballot access, allowing state parties to focus their efforts on outreach instead of having to petition for higher numbers of signatures and meet other onerous requirements that smaller parties without ballot access are required to fulfill.
