Green Party candidates might make November’s ballot, but new litigation is imminent
A decision on whether to put Green Party candidates on the November ballot could be in reach within days.
In a court filing obtained by The News & Observer, Judge James C. Dever III ordered the Green Party and the North Carolina State Board of Elections to file a proposed consent order resolving the dispute by 5 p.m. Wednesday. Dever released this order after the state board voted unanimously to certify the Green Party on Monday.
“The parties apparently agree that injunctive relief ensuring that the NCGP candidates appear on the Nov. 8, 2022 general election ballot is appropriate now that NCGP is a certified political party,” Dever wrote.
Although the board certified the Green Party, it did not have the power to put the party’s candidates on the ballot because the candidate filing deadline passed on July 1. That decision is up to the judge.
Following the state board’s initial vote against certification in June, the Green Party sued the board in federal court, arguing that the denial of certification violated the party’s due process and First Amendment rights. The party requested the judge order the board to certify the party and issue an order extending the candidate filing deadline.
In its response to the party’s lawsuit, the board wrote that it did not oppose a judge extending the deadline if the board voted in favor of certification.
If Dever extends the deadline, Matthew Hoh will appear on the ballot as the Green Party’s candidate for U.S. Senate. Michael Trudeau, who is running for state senate in District 16 will also be included.
“I think what I offer is a conversation as well as solutions to the issues that are affecting millions of North Carolinians,” Hoh said in a phone call with The N&O. “...If the choice to vote for us is not there, then issues like health care, affordable housing, wages, war on drugs — things that are really affecting millions of North Carolinians — are not going to be addressed.”
Another lawsuit coming
While this litigation may be on its way to a resolution, another lawsuit involving the Green Party is imminent.
The North Carolina Democratic Party announced Monday after the NCSBE’s vote that it will file a lawsuit in Wake County Superior Court to “protect the integrity of the North Carolina political process,” according to a press release.
“Given the North Carolina State Board of Elections’ own investigation finding widespread fraud in the North Carolina Green Party petitions and the ongoing criminal investigation, the NCDP is pursuing legal action to ensure North Carolina voters have not been deceived,” NCDP Executive Director Meredith Cuomo said in the press release.
The release calls the board’s vote a “sharp departure” from past fraud cases, pointing to the 2018 fraud scandal in the state’s 9th Congressional District where the board ordered a new election due to ballot tampering.
“In both the 2018 case and the present one, the state board followed the law,” Pat Gannon, a spokesperson for the state board said in an email to The N&O. “The law as it pertains to the 2018 case (N.C.G.S. § 163-182.13) provides that the state board may order a new election when ‘Irregularities or improprieties occurred to such an extent that they taint the results of the entire election and cast doubt on its fairness.’ There is no such law when it comes to petitions. All evidence the state board was able to obtain showed the Green Party received more signatures than necessary to be recognized as a political party.”
The board said that the investigation into fraud in the party’s petitioning campaign will continue. Board members voted to certify after staff informed them that the county boards of elections had completed a signature matching review of the party’s petitions and found them to still have 1,607 signatures more than needed to become a new party.
“This is the Democrats own version of ‘The Big Lie,’” Oliver Hall, the Green Party’s lawyer said in a phone call with The N&O. “They make allegations of widespread fraud which are unsubstantiated, not supported by the proof, not supported by the evidence and they repeat them in the press, they repeat them in court filings — but they can’t prove them... It’s disappointing that a party that calls itself the Democratic Party would engage in this blatant anti-democratic effort to suppress voter choice.”
The NCDP has yet to file its lawsuit, so details regarding its legal argument are unavailable. As for the federal case, the judge has asked both parties to file a resolution by Wednesday at 5 p.m.
For more North Carolina government and politics news, listen to the Under the Dome politics podcast from The News & Observer and the NC Insider. You can find it at https://campsite.bio/underthedome or wherever you get your podcasts.