Jill Stein Falls Short in New York Write-In Effort for Green Party Ballot Access

Dr. Jill Stein, the Green Party’s 2024 presidential nominee, received 46,698 write-in votes in New York, according to results recently published by the state, falling short of the 130,000 votes needed to restore ballot access for the Green Party of New York.

New York Greens mounted a statewide write-in campaign around Stein and running mate Dr. Butch Ware after the presidential ticket failed to qualify for the ballot earlier this year. The party had sought to use the general election to regain ballot access after losing its ballot line following the 2020 election.

Under New York’s current ballot access rules, a party must receive at least 130,000 votes or two percent of the total vote cast in a presidential or gubernatorial election to qualify for future ballot access. That threshold was increased from 50,000 votes as part of the same 2020 rule change that raised the petitioning requirement for statewide candidates from 5,000 signatures to 45,000.

Stein initially attempted to qualify for the New York ballot through petitioning but was unsuccessful. Despite an active signature-gathering effort that reportedly cost more than $300,000, the campaign fell nearly 10,000 signatures short of the requirement.

Not long afterward, both the state Green and Libertarian parties filed a motion in August to join in Team Kennedy v. Berger, a lawsuit filed by then-independent candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who also faced challenges due to New York’s stringent petitioning laws for independent candidates.

That following month, the Green Party of New York announced plans to regain ballot access by mobilizing enough voters to write in Stein’s name during the general election. The party said at the time that it would organize local events, produce campaign materials, and coordinate volunteers statewide as part of the effort.

Yet even despite these efforts, election results finalized this week by the New York State Board of Elections show that Stein fell short of the required number of write-in votes to secure the Green Party a ballot line for the future.

However, while the party’s attempt was ultimately unsuccessful, Stein still achieved one of the better showings for a Green Party candidate in New York, even outperforming several previous nominees who had appeared on the ballot. Her 2024 write-in showing surpassed Howie Hawkins’ 2020 result, her own 2012 campaign, and Cynthia McKinney’s 2008 run. She also surpassed David Cobb’s 2004 showing, though Cobb did not qualify for the ballot and received just over 100 write-in votes.

The only Green Party candidates whose results Stein did not surpass were her own 2016 bid and Ralph Nader’s presidential campaigns in 2000 and 1996.

With thanks to Richard Winger of Ballot Access News for first reporting on Stein’s write-in vote totals.