Ballot Access News:

The Green Party of New Mexico has started circulating its petition to get itself back on the ballot, and it has 500 signatures already. The party needs 4,151 signatures by April 1.

If New Mexico had a rational election law to determine which parties are on the ballot automatically, that law would already recognize the Green Party. In 2008 the Green Party carried Santa Fe County and Los Alamos County for its candidate for Public Regulation Commission, Rick Lass. Lass polled 43.69% for this partisan race. His vote total, 77,006 votes, was more than 5% of the total vote cast in the entire state. The law defines “major party” to be a group that polled for any of its candidates, a number of votes greater than 5% of the entire vote in the state. The law also requires a “major party” to have registration of at least one-third of 1%, and the Green Party has enough registered members to meet that test as well.

The catch is that before a group can be a “major party”, it must be a “political party”, and a “political party” must have polled one-half of 1% for either President or Governor at either of the last two elections. The Green Party didn’t have a gubernatorial candidate in 2006, and Cynthia McKinney didn’t poll as much as one-half of 1% in 2008.

Parties on the ballot now in New Mexico, besides the two major parties, are the Independent Party and the Constitution Party. The Independent Party is on because it polled over one-half of 1% for president in 2008. The Constitution Party is on because it petitioned in 2008 and parties that petition get ballot status for the next two elections. The Libertarian Party is currently petitioning in New Mexico also.

New Mexico Green Party Court Hearing on Party Status Set for February 23

On February 23, at 1 p.m., a U.S. District Court in New Mexico will hear arguments in Woodruff v Herrera. This hearing concerns the part of the case that argues that the Green Party should be recognized, because it polled a number of votes in 2008 that is greater than 5% of the total vote cast in the state, and because it has registration of more than one-third of 1% of the state total.

The state says the party is not ballot-qualified (even though it meets the requirements to be a major party), because it is not a party. It is not a party because it didn’t poll one-half of 1% for President in 2008, and it didn’t run a candidate for Governor in 2006.

Technically, there are two lawsuits, Woodruff v Herrera, 09-cv-449, and Woodruff and Green Party v Herrera, 10-cv-123. They have been combined for purposes of this hearing.