Election officials keep Green Party presidential candidate on Wisconsin ballot

MADISON, Wis. (AP) — Wisconsin elections officials dismissed a Democratic National Committee employee’s demands Friday to remove the Green Party’s presidential candidate from the ballot in the key swing state.

DNC employee David Strange filed a complaint with the Wisconsin Elections Commission on Wednesday asking the commission to remove Jill Stein from the presidential ballot. The election commission’s attorney, Angela O’Brien Sharpe, wrote to Strange on Friday saying she had dismissed the complaint because it names commissioners as respondents and they can’t ethically decide a matter brought against them.

Dismissing the complaint clears the way for a potential lawsuit seeking to keep Stein off the ballot. A spokesperson for the DNC didn’t immediately respond to an email seeking comment. The Stein campaign also didn’t immediately respond to a message sent to their media email inbox.

The bipartisan elections commission unanimously approved ballot access for Stein in February because the Green Party won more than 1% of the vote in a statewide race in 2022. Sheryl McFarland got nearly 1.6% of the vote while finishing last in a four-way race for secretary of state.

Strange argued in his complaint that the Green Party can’t nominate presidential electors in Wisconsin because no one in the party is a state officer, defined as legislators, judges and others. Without any presidential electors, the party can’t have a presidential candidate on the ballot, Strange contended.

Stein’s appearance on the ballot could make a difference in battleground Wisconsin, where four of the past six presidential elections have been decided by between 5,700 votes and about 23,000 votes.

Stein last appeared on the Wisconsin ballot 2016, when she won just over 31,000 votes — more than Donald Trump’s winning margin in the state. Some Democrats have blamed her for helping Trump win the state and the presidency that year.

The Wisconsin Supreme Court kept Green Party presidential candidate Howie Hawkins off the ballot in 2020 after the elections commission deadlocked on whether he filed proper nominating signatures.

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. Democrats fear third-party candidates could siphon votes from Harris and tilt the race toward Trump.

The elections commission plans to meet Aug. 27 to determine whether four independent presidential candidates, including Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Cornel West, have met the prerequisites to appear on the ballot.

Strange filed a separate complaint last week with the commission seeking to keep West off the ballot, alleging his declaration of candidacy wasn’t properly notarized. Cornel’s campaign manager countered in a written response any notarization shortcomings shouldn’t be enough to keep him off the ballot. That complaint is still pending.

Michigan election officials tossed West off that state’s ballot Friday over similar notary issues.