Statement by Illinois Green Party Executive Committee on Ballot Challenges to the Socialist and Constitution Parties in Illinois

The Illinois Green Party has been made aware that an individual member of our party has filed an objection to the candidacy of Socialist Party presidential candidate Emidio Soltysik, Constitution Party presidential candidate Frank Fluckiger and Constitution Party U.S. Senate candidate Chad Koppie, seeking to block these candidates from appearing on the November 8th general election ballot in Illinois. The Executive Committee of the Illinois Green Party wishes to make it clear in no uncertain terms that we did not solicit, suggest, or approve of any such action. This action was taken on the sole initiative of the individual. Under Illinois law, any Illinois voter may file such an objection.

We recognize that, in light of the heroic and extraordinary sacrifices made by Illinois Greens to collect approximately 50,000 petition signatures from Illinois voters on behalf of our own presumptive presidential candidate, Jill Stein, some members of our party may feel that it is unfair for other minority parties, that did not make a comparable effort, to appear on the ballot. This is understandable. We support fair, reasonable and very low threshold ballot access requirements in our state. We do not support the proposition that there should be no requirements at all. However, the Illinois Green Party states that it is not the role of our party to police the ballot when all minority parties face a fundamentally unfair electoral system that is heavily stacked against them, all to the benefit of the two corporate parties. We recognize the Socialist Party and the Constitution Party as allies in the broader struggle for fair and reasonable ballot access laws. We reject the fiction that exists under Illinois law that these parties, and our party, are “new” parties that must repeatedly meet ridiculously high petition signature requirements, election after election, just to have our candidates on the ballot. We also recognize that the Socialist Party, the party of Eugene V. Debs, an historic agent of social progress in America, is a potential ally of the Green Party in the struggle for further social progress.