MADISON, Wis. — Wisconsin election officials on Friday rejected demands from a Democratic National Committee employee to remove the Green Party presidential candidate from the ballot in the key swing state.
DNC staffer David Strange a complaint filed with the Wisconsin Elections Commission on Wednesday asking the commission to strike Jill Stein from the presidential ballot. Elections Commission attorney Angela O’Brien Sharpe wrote to Strange on Friday saying she dismissed the complaint because the commissioners were named as respondents and they cannot ethically decide a case brought against them.
DNC spokeswoman Adrienne Watson said late Friday afternoon that the committee plans to file a lawsuit seeking a court order that Stein’s name not appear on the ballot. Stein’s campaign did not immediately respond to a message sent to their media email inbox.
The bipartisan Election Commission unanimously approved Stein’s ballot access in February, as the Green Party won more than 1% of the vote in a statewide race in 2022. Sheryl McFarland received nearly 1.6% of the vote, finishing last in a four-way race for secretary of state.
Strange argued in his complaint that the Green Party cannot nominate presidential electors in Wisconsin because no one in the party is a state official, defined as legislators, judges and others. Without presidential electors, the party cannot have a presidential candidate on the ballot, Strange argued.
Stein’s appearance on the ballot could make the difference in the state of Wisconsin, where four of the last six presidential elections have been decided by a margin of between 5,700 and 23,000 votes.
Stein last appeared on the Wisconsin ballot in 2016, when she won just over 31,000 votes — more than Donald Trump’s margin of victory in the state. Some Democrats have accused her of helping Trump win the state and the presidency that year.
The Wisconsin Supreme Court has removed Green Party presidential candidate Howie Hawkins from the ballot 2020 after the electoral commission reached a stalemate over whether he had submitted the correct signatures for his nomination.
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 evenly split among likely voters. Democrats fear that third-party candidates could steal votes from Harris and tip the race in Trump’s favor.
The Electoral College will meet on August 27 to determine whether four independent presidential candidates, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, meet the requirements to appear on the ballot.
Strange filed a separate complaint with the commission last week to keep West off the ballot, saying his candidacy declaration had not been properly notarized. Cornel’s campaign manager responded in a written response, saying that deficiencies in the notarial deed should not be enough to keep him off the ballot. That complaint is still pending.
Michigan Election Officials West thrown off that state’s ballot Friday about similar notary issues.