Wisconsin election officials dismissed a complaint last Friday from a Democratic National Committee employee that sought to prevent Green Party presidential nominee Dr. Jill Stein from appearing on the state ballot.
The complaint, filed by David Strange, the deputy operations director for the Democratic National Committee in Wisconsin, argued that the Green Party lacked the authority to nominate presidential electors because it did not have individuals who legally met the definition under state law. Strange claimed that without eligible individuals to serve as nominators, there would be no feasible way to put forward a slate of electors.
Wisconsin Statutes, specifically section 8.18, state that individuals authorized to nominate presidential electors include “candidates for the senate and assembly nominated by each political party at the primary, the state officers and the holdover state senators[.]”
However, the Associated Press reported that the complaint was dismissed on Friday because it named election commissioners as respondents, creating a conflict of interest. The election commission’s attorney informed Strange that the commissioners could not ethically decide on matters brought against them. Adrienne Watson, a spokesperson for the Democratic National Committee, later told the AP that the committee now plans to file a lawsuit seeking a court ruling to block Stein’s name from appearing on the ballot.
“This is what democracy looks like”