Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker are on the Ohio Ballot

The Ohio Green Party

www.ohiogreens.org

For Immediate Release: August 31st, 2020

Philena Farley, Co-chair, Media Committee, pifbits@ohiogreens.org 614-859-9147
Nathaniel Lane, Co-chair, Media Committee, GreenBAC@ohiogreens.org 513-760-5707
Jordan Hardee, Press Secretary, press@ohiogreens.org 513-633-2250

Ballot Access Update – The Ohio Green Party – Press Conference

Green Nominees Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker on the Ohio Ballot

The battle to get the Green Party Presidential and Vice Presidential Candidates Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker onto the ballot in Ohio saw victory this past Friday, with Secretary of State Frank LaRose announcing that the Hawkins campaign had submitted all necessary documents and had qualified for inclusion in the 2020 Presidential Election in Ohio.

The Ohio Green Party will be hosting a Zoom press conference this Friday, Sept 4th 2020 at 3pm to take questions from the media.

Unable to safely meet signature deadlines because of the COVID-19 pandemic, a general stay-at-home order issued by Governor DeWine, and by overly ambiguous exemptions for First Amendment activities related to the stay-at-home order, the Ohio Green Party filed a lawsuit against the state of Ohio for ballot access.

Constance Gadell-Newton, the Ohio Green Party’s gubernatorial candidate in 2018 and one of the attorney’s who handled the case, said the goal of the lawsuit was to “get some remedy from the court such as allowing electronic signatures or ballot access based on performance in recent elections.”

Other states had placed the Green Party on the ballot due to their ballot access in previous years. While others allowed electronic signatures or reduced the number of signatures required for ballot access. The Ohio court ruled against the Green Party on the grounds that the state “did not prohibit signature-gathering requirements” despite having issued a stay-at-home order due to a pandemic, and despite the obvious health risks associated with physically gathering signatures under such circumstances.

The Green Party filed motions to appeal the case, which were denied, and was working on an appeal to the Supreme court when Richard Duncan, an independent candidate with the necessary signatures for the 2020 Presidential election, contacted the Hawkins campaign and offered the Green Party’s Presidential candidate his position on the ballot in a greatly appreciated gesture of democratic fraternity.

Howie Hawkins said, “Green Party support for Medicare for All, the Green New Deal, tuition-free public colleges, and trade schools are supported by the majority of the people, but not by Trump and Biden. We are happy that the Green alternative for racial, social, economic, and environmental justice will be the progressive option on the Ohio ballot in the presidential race.”

The Ohio Green Party and the Hawkins campaign want to make it clear to Ohio voters that there is a better choice for them in November. They don’t have to vote for the lesser of two evils, or for parties and politicians that do not champion their values and interests, they can vote for the Green Party candidates in Ohio in 2020.

MORE INFORMATION

Public Statement Re:COVID-19 Ohio Green Party – Press Release, March 2020, Nathaniel Lane

Ohio Green Party Press Conference

Time: Sept 4th, 2020 03:00 PM Eastern Time (US and Canada)

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