Jill Stein, the Green Party’s presidential candidate, welcomed the Wisconsin Supreme Court’s dismissal of a lawsuit seeking to exclude her from the ballot in her state.
“Big victory against the anti-Democratic Party’s war on democracy and choice!” wrote Stein. “Wisconsin voters still have a choice this year to stand up against genocide, for workers and for climate!”
On Monday, the state Supreme Court ruled that the lawsuit brought by David Strange, deputy director of operations for the Democratic National Committee in Wisconsin, was not final.
“The Court has reviewed the record in this case. Accordingly, it is ordered that the motion for leave to commence an original action be denied. We conclude that plaintiff (Strange) is not entitled to the relief he seeks. It is further ordered that all other pending motions be denied as moot.”
Alex Brandon/ASSOCIATED PRESS
Strange argued that the Green Party could not nominate electors in Wisconsin because the party had neither officers nor candidates with the authority to nominate electors.
The Green Party and the Republican Party also filed a statement supporting the Green Party, stating that the party met all legal requirements and that Stein should remain on the ballot.
The Democratic Party has made significant legal efforts to prevent third parties from appearing on ballots in several states.
Before independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy abandoned his campaign and endorsed Donald Trump, Democrat-funded lawsuits had succeeded in removing him from the ballot in New York, and had also failed to remove him from the ballot in North Carolina and New Jersey.
Stein had previously run as the Green Party’s presidential candidate in 2012 and 2016. In 2020, when President Joe Biden won Wisconsin by just over 20,000 votes against Trump, Green Party candidate Howie Hawkins was not on the ballot.
Some blame Stein for former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton’s loss to Trump in 2016 – the Green Party candidate received over 31,000 votes in Wisconsin and Trump won the state by just under 23,000 votes.
In 2020, Hawkins received barely more than 1,000 votes as a candidate in Wisconsin. It is not clear how many Biden voters would have supported Hawkins if his name had been on the ballot.
While it is unclear how many potential Stein voters would support Harris if she were not on the ballot, if the outcome this year is as close as in past elections, a relatively small number of votes could have decisive implications.
Before Biden announced that he would not seek re-election, Stein’s campaign was seen by MAGA members as beneficial to Trump because of its ability to steal votes from the Democratic Party.
Right-wing activist and former White House strategist Steve Bannon, who is currently imprisoned for contempt of Congress, said The New York Times in April that “the path to victory here is clearly to maximize the reach of these left-wing alternatives.”
“No Republican knows that oil production is higher under Biden than it has ever been. But Jill Stein’s people know,” Bannon said. “Stein is angry about oil drilling. The college kids are angry about it. The more attention these people get, the better it is for us.”
Update 8/27/24, 4:00 AM ET: This article has been updated with additional information.
