Photo Credit: Gage Skidmore / Flickr

New York is unique in the 2024 election cycle: It is the only state that has just two candidates on its presidential ballot. In the last 40 years, this has happened in only one other state: Oklahoma.

Voters across the US are told they have to pick between the two major parties, but in New York it is literally all they have.

Green Party of New York (GPNY) officials sent out a press release, condemning the lack of candidate options in the state. They called New York "the worst state in the nation for voter choice."

"I am absolutely disgusted that the only two choices on my ballot this year are candidates who are pro-war, pro-genocide and anti-democracy," said Cassandra Lems.

Lems, a GPNY executive committee member and national party co-chair, added that the "parties have done everything they could to squelch other voices" and push Greens off the ballot.

But as Green Party officials note, it's more than just their party that is being suppressed.

There are a few variables that account for the lack of candidate choices in the Empire State, most notable of which goes back to the end of 2019, ahead of the 2020 election cycle.

Then-Gov. Andrew Cuomo expanded the authority of a public campaign financing commission to rewrite election laws that pertain to minor political parties in the state.

And it only took one change to cost the Green, Libertarian (LPNY), Independence, and SAM (Serve America Movement) Parties their ballot lines.

The commission changed ballot access requirements that said parties needed 50,000 votes every 4 years to 130,000 votes every 2 years. This is a substantial difference even in a presidential election 

In 2020, for example, Libertarian presidential nominee Jo Jorgenson received over 60,000 votes, which under the old rules would have ensured her party kept its ballot line.

Under the new rules, it was less than half of what the party needed.

“Why is New York suppressing voter choice when it could lead the way in ballot access instead?" said GPNY Co-Chair Peter LaVenia. 

"There’s no justification for the hurdles placed on smaller party and independent candidates except to eliminate what should be robust, healthy, democratic competition."

GPNY officials also point to the costs associated with signature gathering as an impossible barrier to overcome.

Independent presidential candidate Robert F Kennedy Jr spent more than a $1 million to collect enough signatures for a campaign to be comfortable with for ballot access.

And while RFK was still denied a place on the ballot over a residency dispute,  LaVenia says the amount Kennedy spent is "prohibitive for smaller parties and candidates."

The GPNY spent approximately $368,000 on signature gathering in 2024 -- but it wasn't enough. 

The GPNY and LPNY filed a joint motion in August to intervene in a lawsuit brought against New York by Kennedy that challenged the state's ballot access requirements.

They cited the above grievances and others as reasons why they wanted to join the lawsuit.