Green Party asks federal court to help put candidate Jill Stein on Nevada ballot

CARSON CITY — The Nevada Green Party and its presidential candidate, Jill Stein, have filed a complaint in federal court in an effort to win a spot on the Nov. 8 general election ballot.

Secretary of State Barbara Cegavske earlier this month rejected an appeal for ballot access, concluding that the Nevada Green Party didn’t meet a 1 percent threshold of registered voters, as required under state law.

In the complaint filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court, the party and Stein argued that a deadline to submit signatures for ballot access should be extended and that signatures gathered after the deadline should be accepted by the secretary of state’s office for ballot access.

The complaint filed against Cegavske argues that the deadline in Nevada state law of 159 days prior to the general election to submit signatures for ballot access is unconstitutionally burdensome.

The party was required to submit 5,431 valid signatures by June 3 but said in the complaint that “the unreasonable time constraints” enforced by Cegavske’s office made it impossible to do so.

No date for a hearing has yet been set.

Contact Sean Whaley at swhaley@reviewjournal.com or 775-461-3820. Find @seanw801 on Twitter.