Democrats try to block Green Party from presidential ballot in Wisconsin, citing legal issues

MADISON, Wis . (AP) — A member of the Democratic National Committee filed a complaint Wednesday seeking to remove the Green Party’s presidential candidate from the ballot in Wisconsin, arguing that the party is ineligible.

It’s the latest move by the DNC to block third-party candidates from the ballot. Democrats are also seeking to stop independent Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in several states.

The Green Party’s appearance on the presidential ballot could make a difference in swing state Wisconsin, where four of the past six presidential elections have been decided by between 5,700 votes and about 23,000 votes. Jill Stein is expected to officially become the Green Party’s presidential nominee at its national convention, which begins Thursday.

The Associated Press left email messages with the Green Party and Stein’s campaign Wednesday afternoon.

The last time Stein was on the ballot in Wisconsin for the Green Party was in 2016, when she got just over 31,000 votes — more than Donald Trump’s winning margin 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 in February unanimously approved ballot access for the Green Party’s presidential nominee this year because the party won more than 1% of the vote in a statewide race in 2022. Green Party candidate Sharyl McFarland got nearly 1.6% of the vote in a four-way race for secretary of state, coming in last.

But the complaint filed with the commission by a DNC member alleges that the Green Party can’t nominate presidential electors in Wisconsin, and without them they are forbidden from having a presidential candidate on the ballot.

State law requires that those who nominate electors in October be state officers, which includes members of the Legislature, judges and others. They could also be candidates for the Legislature.

The Green Party does not have anyone who qualifies to be a nominator, and therefore can’t legally name a slate of presidential electors as required by law, the complaint alleges.

Because the Green Party could have mounted write-in campaigns for legislative candidates in Tuesday’s primary, but did not, the complaint could not have been brought any sooner than Wednesday, the filing alleges.

“We take the nomination process for President and Vice President very seriously and believe every candidate should follow the rules,” Adrienne Watson, senior adviser to the DNC, said in a statement. “Because the Wisconsin Green Party hasn’t fielded candidates for legislative or statewide office and doesn’t have any current incumbent legislative or statewide office holders, it cannot nominate candidates and should not be on the ballot in November.”

This is not the first time the Green Party’s ballot status has been challenged.

In 2020, the Wisconsin Supreme Court kept the Green Party presidential candidate off the ballot after it upheld a deadlocked Wisconsin Elections Commission, which couldn’t agree on whether the candidates filed proper paperwork.

This year, in addition to the Republican, Democratic and Green parties, the Constitution and Libertarian parties also have ballot access. The commission is meeting on Aug. 27 to determine whether four independent candidates for president, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, met the requirements to appear on the ballot. The DNC member asks that the commission also consider its complaint at that meeting as well.

There are signs in some swing states, including Wisconsin, that those behind third-party candidates are trying to affect the outcome of the presidential race by using deceptive means — and in most cases in ways that would benefit Trump. Their aim is to to offer left-leaning, third-party alternatives who could siphon off a few thousand protest votes.

The latest Marquette University Law School poll conducted July 24 through Aug. 1 showed the presidential contest in Wisconsin between Democrat Kamala Harris and Trump to be about even among likely voters. Stein barely registered, with about 1% support, while Kennedy had 6%.

The complaint was filed by David Strange, deputy operations director in Wisconsin for the DNC.