MADISON, Wis. — A Democratic National Committee employee filed a lawsuit Wednesday seeking to have the Green Party presidential candidate removed from the Wisconsin ballot, saying the party is ineligible.
It’s the latest move by the DNC to keep third-party candidates off the ballot. Democrats are also try to stop independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in several states.
The Green Party’s appearance on the presidential ballot could make a difference in the swing state of Wisconsin, where four of the last six presidential elections have been decided by between 5,700 and about 23,000 votes. Jill Stein is expected to officially become the Green Party’s presidential nominee at the national convention, which begins Thursday.
The Associated Press left email messages with the Green Party and Stein’s campaign on Wednesday afternoon.
The last time Stein was on the ballot in Wisconsin for the Green Party was in 2016, when she received just over 31,000 votes — more than Donald Trump’s margin of victory that year of just under 23,000 votes. Some Democrats blamed Stein for helping Trump win the state and the presidency.
The bipartisan elections commission unanimously approved in February to grant the Green Party presidential candidate access to the ballot box this year, as the party won more than 1% of the vote in a statewide race in 2022. Green Party candidate Sharyl McFarland won nearly 1.6% of the vote in a four-party race for secretary of state, finishing last.
But the complaint filed with the committee by a DNC employee alleges that the Green Party is not allowed to nominate electors for president in Wisconsin and that without electors it is illegal to have a presidential candidate on the ballot.
State law requires that those who nominate voters in October be state officials, including members of the legislature, judges and others. They can also be candidates for the legislature.
The Green Party does not have anyone qualified to nominate a candidate and therefore cannot legally designate a slate of electors for the presidency, as required by law, the complaint says.
Because the Green Party could have conducted written campaigns for legislative candidates during Tuesday’s primaries but did not, the complaint could not have been filed until Wednesday, the filing alleges.
“We take the presidential and vice presidential nomination process very seriously and believe that any candidate must follow the rules,” DNC senior adviser Adrienne Watson said in a statement. “Because the Wisconsin Green Party has not nominated any candidates for legislative or state office and has no current legislative or state office holders, it cannot nominate candidates and should not be on the ballot in November.”
It is not the first time that the Green Party’s voting status has been disputed.
In 2020, the Wisconsin Supreme Court upheld the Green Party’s presidential nomination from the ballot box after it propped up Wisconsin’s gridlocked election board, which could not agree on whether candidates had filed proper paperwork.
This year, in addition to the Republican, Democratic and Green parties, the Constitution and Libertarian parties also have access to the ballot. The commission will meet on August 27 to determine whether four independent presidential candidates, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, met the requirements to appear on the ballot. The DNC official is asking the commission to consider her complaint at that meeting as well.
There are signs in some swing states, including Wisconsinthat those behind third-party candidates are attempting to influence the outcome of the presidential election by using deceptive means—and in most cases in ways that would benefit Trump. Their goal is to provide left-wing, third-party alternatives that could siphon off a few thousand protest votes.
The Latest Marquette University Law School Poll conducted from July 24 to August 1 showed that the Wisconsin presidential primary between Democrat Kamala Harris and Trump was about even among likely voters. Stein barely registered, with about 1% support, while Kennedy had 6%.
The complaint was filed by David Strange, deputy director of operations for the DNC in Wisconsin.
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This story has been updated to correct that Strange is a DNC employee and not a member.