On August 5, 2024, the Libertarian Party of New York (LPNY) and the Green Party of New York (GPNY) filed a motion to intervene in Team Kennedy v Berger et al (1:24-cv-03897-ALC), the lawsuit brought by Robert F. Kennedy Jr. against the New York State Board of Elections in the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York. Team Kennedy filed a lawsuit on May 21, 2021, challenging numerous aspects of New York’s independent petition laws.
The LPNY and GPNY plan to join the lawsuit as plaintiffs. Both were unable to maintain their ballot positions in 2020 after then-Governor Andrew Cuomo used the state’s COVID emergency budget to increase the number of votes required to obtain ballot status as a political party every two years from 50,000 votes for the gubernatorial nomination to 130,000 votes for the top nomination. Another obstacle to providing New York voters with more choice was created by requiring parties seeking ballot status to collect 45,000 valid signatures (up from 15,000) in the same 6-week period. New York is now one of the states where it is most difficult for political parties to obtain and maintain a ballot, and among those with the highest number of signatures per day.
“This is a clear attempt at voter suppression taking place across the country, largely initiated by the DNC as they continue to descend into chaos with their party no matter who they put at the top of the ballot while Republicans threaten to restrict civil liberties and serve the wealthy. Now is the time this country needs independent voices and decisions,” said Gloria Mattera, co-chair of the Green Party of New York.
The LPNY and GPNY sued the New York State Board of Elections in 2020 (1:20-cv-05820-JGK) after the thresholds were raised. This turned into a three-year legal battle that ended in 2023 after going all the way to the United States Supreme Court (22-893), which refused to hear the case.
The current lawsuit challenges the draconian and futile requirements that minor parties and independents must meet to get a candidate on the ballot and secure a spot on the ballot, including the large number of signatures required in a very short period of time, the high cost of collecting those signatures, the laborious work of identifying cities and towns in each congressional district that have no connection to voter registration, and the requirement to nominate a slate of presidential electors to be included in the independents’ nomination petition, even though political parties with ballot status do not submit their slates until after their nominating convention.
The lawsuit specifically points to the high cost of a petition campaign: The Libertarian Party spent nearly $300,000 in 2022 and failed to get Larry Sharpe, its gubernatorial candidate, on the ballot; in 2024, the GPNY and Jill Stein campaign spent about $368,000 to get Stein on the ballot and also failed; Kennedy, on the other hand, spent $1.1 million to get on the ballot and succeeded.
“Major party laws force smaller parties and independent candidates to spend enormous amounts of money just to get on the ballot. The major parties have automatic access to the ballot, while we have to spend significant resources to even be competitive,” said Andrew Kolstee, chairman of the Libertarian Party of New York. “Republicans and Democrats are essentially using this tactic: They eliminate competition by making it too expensive for them to run. As the popularity of the two major parties declines, they continue to build up these barriers and prevent third-party and independent candidates from gaining ground. Challenging these ballot access laws is essential to giving voters more choice.”
Co-plaintiffs joining the LPNY and GPNY include Jill Stein’s presidential campaign; Andrew Kolstee, chairman of the LPNY; Rich Purtell, second vice chairman of the LPNY, who also represented the Libertarian Party’s petition to be its vice presidential candidate until the Libertarian National Convention chose its candidate; and Mark Braiman, secretary of the LPNY, all of New York. Voters who feel they will be harmed if their candidate for president is not on the ballot.
Howie Hawkins, the Green Party’s 2020 presidential candidate, gave the reason: “I spent 40 hours collecting 972 signatures for Jill Stein’s independent nomination petition. I know from talking to several thousand voters that most people believe that all serious candidates should be on the ballot, that they want more choices than the two major party candidates, and that many of them want to vote for a more progressive option. These people, and the over 42,000 people who signed Jill Stein’s petition, should have the right to vote for whoever and whatever they want.”
