The Pennsylvania Supreme Court upheld lower court rulings on Friday to prevent two third-party presidential candidates from appearing on the state’s ballot in the upcoming November election. This decision favors both the Democratic and Republican parties as they aim to avoid potential votes being taken away by third-party candidates in a crucial battleground state like Pennsylvania.
The excluded candidates are James Clymer of the Constitution Party and Claudia De la Cruz of the Party for Socialism and Liberation. The lower Commonwealth Court judges supported challenges against De la Cruz from Democrats and Clymer from Republicans, leading to their disqualification from the ballot.
The court found that in De la Cruz’s case, several of the listed presidential electors were registered as Democrats, violating state law that prevents minor-party candidates from being affiliated with a major party within 30 days of the primary election. As for Clymer, some of the party’s electors failed to submit required candidate affidavits by the deadline.
Meanwhile, a challenge against independent candidate Cornel West, supported by Democrats, continued as of Friday. West, a left-leaning academic, received backing from a lawyer with Republican ties in his bid to appear on Pennsylvania’s ballot.
Currently, only two third-party candidates, Jill Stein of the Green Party and Chase Oliver of the Libertarian Party, successfully secured a spot on Pennsylvania’s presidential ballot without facing challenges. Another independent candidate, Robert F. Kennedy Jr., halted his campaign, endorsed Donald Trump, and withdrew from the court battle over his candidacy paperwork.
This legal battle over third-party candidates in Pennsylvania highlights the importance of the state in deciding the outcome of the presidential election.