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Almost every year, the PA Democrats sue Green candidates in an effort to knock them off the ballot either due to technicalities or unaffordable legal costs. They argued in court in 2020 that the pandemic didn't affect the election and so Greens should be kicked off.
In 2006, Green candidate for US Senate Carl Romanelli collected over 80,000 signatures to be on the ballot -- PA had some of the worst ballot access laws in the country at that time.
PA Dems sued, kicked him off the ballot by challenging all the signatures, then sued him for legal fees to the tune of $80k-ish. Romanelli refused to pay for being knocked off the ballot and fought in court, finally having a court overturn the costs in 2016.
In 2016, a Green lawsuit against the state finally lowered the ballot access requirements for statewide candidates from the 80,000 that Romanelli needed down to a more manageable 5,000 (which is still double the amount Democrats need to get on the ballot).
This is still one of the highest requirements in the US and the world. Some states require much less than than this -- 1,000 or less. Most countries of the world only require 10, 20, or 50 petition signatures to run for national office.
This is what party suppression looks like.
This is what party suppression looks like.
If you wonder why you haven't seen Greens on your ballot often, this is partly why -- until the last couple years it has been nearly impossible for Greens to even get on the ballot in PA save for a few small offices like judge of elections.
After the 2016 election, presidential candidate Jill Stein sued the state to get a recount and accurate count of her votes. Democrats refused to join in calls for a recount. The courts rejected the lawsuit because of antiquated recount laws but also because PA had no paper trail.
Stein therefore continued her lawsuit demanding that PA adopt voter-verifiable paper ballots in future elections so that it *could* be audited and recounted properly. PA Democrats not only didn't join in, but the Wolf administration actively *FOUGHT* Stein's lawsuit.
Finally in 2018, Stein and PA/Wolf administration announced a settlement that would have the state upgrade its voting machines to count paper ballots by the 2020 election and have full auditing capabilities in place by 2022.
The only reason we had paper ballots in 2020 was because of the Greens -- Democrats weren't making it happen. Greens fighting for election integrity, Democrats against it.
What would have happened if Trump's lawsuits occurred without the paper ballots? Can you imagine the national shitstorm that would have occurred when folks realized *there was no paper trail* with the old machines? Jill Stein might have saved us from Trump.
Sadly however, the PA Democrats sued the 2020 Green nominee Howie Hawkins. Actually PA Democrats tried to knock off the full statewide slate of candidates, using completely fabricated accusations (by that, I mean outright lies) about the ballot access petitions.
PA Dems claimed that non-voters had signed the form (they didn't, we verified their voter IDs); they claimed dead people signed (they weren't, we called and talked to some of them, totally alive); they claimed beautifully written signatures were illegible, and much more.
A team of Green volunteers had to work for days to comb the voter lists and validate and ensure there were enough valid signatures to qualify, and there were. The PA Dems had to drop their accusations in court, but only after costing much money in legal expenses & volunteer time.
PA Dems did however zero in on the forms filed. In particular, one candidate submit the forms via fax, because guess what, the office was CLOSED during the pandemic. Wolf's emergency declaration allowed state agencies to take electronic filings, so why not elections, right?
PA Dems literally argued -- over teleconference, because the court was closed to in-person proceedings due to the pandemic -- that the pandemic & executive orders did NOT apply to elections and so therefore the presidential candidate didn't properly file & should be kicked off.
A lower court agreed with the Greens and ruled that the candidates should be on the ballot. The PA Dept of State itself actually testified that the Green Party filed all of the paperwork needed and so they certified it was legal and should be on the ballot. PA Dems argued it.
The PA Dems appealed the decision to the state supreme court which has a majority Democratic membership. There, the state supreme court with some twisted logic argued the presidential candidate was off the ballot. And that's why you didn't see Howie on the ballot this year.
These are just a few of the big stories that exist; we're not even getting into all the experiences where Democrats violated election laws by electioneering at polling places and telling folks their Green votes wouldn't be counted so they should just vote Dem. (Seriously.)
When folks ask "why haven't the Greens done better", that's the wrong question to ask. The question is --- why are folks not holding the Democratic Party accountable for its undemocratic action? Why are we not DEMANDING real democracy and more choices on the ballot in the US?
We're continuing to fight for democracy, ecology, social justice, and peace, and we won't stop. Despite the ballot access hurdles, we can run local candidates that have lower requirements -- and our local candidates often win. We can keep suing in court, which we have often won.
We don't have democracy in the US until *everyone* can participate. That mean an end to not just voter suppression, but party suppression. Candidates must be free to run on any ballot line, voters must be able to easily vote for anyone they want.
If you wonder how Bernie got cheated from the Democratic primary, or other elections issues, it all goes back to party suppression and election integrity. If we don't respect democracy enough to allow Greens on the ballot then they're definitely not going to let Bernie in either.
Help us continue to challenge and change the system! Please volunteer to help spread the Green values and message. Please volunteer for a campaign, or consider running for local office yourself! Or pitch in a few dollars to help our future candidates and court battles.
Again, we're not fighting just for Green candidates -- we're fighting for democracy for all, for a habitable planet, for social justice for all, for peace. It is a huge fight that requires system change, but we can do it if we work together and grow together.
