WASHINGTON, July 14 (UPI) -- Green Party officials said Wednesday they expect to get their candidate, David Cobb, on 40 states' ballots for the U.S. presidential election.
The party already has access to ballots in 22 states and the District of Columbia, but submitted ballot petitions Wednesday for Michigan, South Carolina and Oklahoma. Eight states have petition deadlines in early August, but the party said in a statement it already has access in four of them.
The Green Party also condemned efforts by the Democratic Party to prohibit independent candidate Ralph Nader from getting on the ballot in certain states, including Arizona.
"The two old parties, in enacting restrictive ballot access laws, have rigged the system in many states to exclude other parties and independent candidates," Green Party Co-Chair Peggy Lewis said in the statement.
She later added: "Many Democrats have tried to obstruct candidates from outside of the two established parties, with Ralph Nader the latest target. The outrage that Democrats faced in Florida in 2000 is something that Greens, other parties, and independents face every election cycle throughout the U.S."
