The Maryland Green Party was notified this morning that it is once again certified as a political party in Maryland. The party is now ballot-qualified for the 2012 and 2014 general elections and and is running candidates for House of Representatives in this year's election. The party will also place candidates for President and Vice-President on the ballot.
The Green Party had been ballot-qualified continuously since it was first recognized in 2000. Greens had successfully fulfilled the requirements for re-certification three times by collecting 10,000 signatures of registered voters.
The party's latest petition was rejected by state officials in March of 2010 for various technical discrepancies, including the omission of middle initials of many signers. Greens protested the severity of the state's signature scrutiny by filing a lawsuit against the State Board of Elections in cooperation with the Libertarian Party of Maryland. The parties won the suit in the Circuit Court for Anne Arundel County but were de-certified after losing the state's appeal in May of this year.
"In spite of the numerous hurdles put up over the last two years, we had no doubt we would prevail in the end," said Tim Willard, Co-Chair of the Maryland Green Party. "We are now finally certain, less than three months before the election, that Marylanders will actually be able to vote for our candidates." Read more here...
