The Wisconsin Supreme Court declined to hear a Democratic challenge aimed at blocking Green Party candidate Jill Stein from appearing on the ballot in the state.
Last week, the Democratic National Committee filed a petition for original action, which asked Wisconsin’s high court to take up the case. On Monday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court, which has a left-leaning majority, dismissed the case.
The petition argued Stein and her running mate should be barred from appearing on the general election ballot in the state because the Green Party does not hold any statewide offices or have the state legislative candidates needed to nominate presidential electors.
Because of this argument, the petition asked the Wisconsin Supreme Court to order the Wisconsin Elections Commission to disqualify the Green Party from the presidential ballot on or before Aug. 27, which is the scheduled date for the election commission to certify candidates appearing on the ballot.
Some Democrats view Stein as a spoiler candidate who pulls votes from the left wing of the party, and some blame her entirely for the Democrats’ losses in some swing states in 2016, including in Wisconsin.
In 2016, Stein earned about 31,000 votes. At the same time, former President Donald Trump flipped the state for the first time since 1992, beating former Secretary of State Hillary Clinton by 24,000 votes. That year, in Michigan and Pennsylvania, Stein pulled similar numbers, which some believe allowed Trump to win the states for the first time in decades as Democrats’ “blue wall” crumbled by razor-thin margins.
Adrienne Watson, a DNC spokeswoman, told Wisconsin Public Radio the dismissal was “disappointing.”
“The Wisconsin Green Party’s violation of the law is crystal clear,” Watson said in a statement. “WGP did not meet either of Wisconsin’s two simple requirements to nominate candidates, so it should not be on the ballot in November.”
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Meanwhile, Republicans in the state were seemingly pleased with the ruling.
“For years, Democrats have silenced and disenfranchised Wisconsin voters by removing inconvenient candidates from the ballot,” Wisconsin GOP Chairman Brian Schimming said. “This time around, their undemocratic schemes have failed. If Democrats hope to win over voters, they will have to do so through earnest persuasion instead of disqualification.”
