COLUMBUS, Ohio—An Ohio Green Party leader testified in federal court Tuesday that she turned in a letter to withdraw Anita Rios, presidential hopeful Jill Stein’s running mate, from this year’s statewide ballot without Rios’ knowledge or permission,
The letter, which Ohio Green Party Co-Chair Philena Farley previously insisted that Rios knew about and supported, led Ohio Secretary of State Frank LaRose’s office to order that any votes for Stein and Rios in this year’s Nov. 5 general election should not be counted.
Stein and Rios have asked U.S. District Court Judge Michael H. Watson for an injunction to overrule that order, claiming Farley went behind Rios’ back and that LaRose’s office shouldn’t have accepted the letter as genuine. Watson said after a court hearing Tuesday afternoon that he will issue a written decision on whether to grant that request.
During interviews last month with an investigator with LaRose’s office, as well as with cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer, Farley said she and Rios agreed that Farley would write and deliver the letter because Rios had COVID-19 at the time. Farley also asserted that Rios was on the phone with her while she delivered the letter to LaRose’s office in downtown Columbus.
However, Farley said Tuesday that Rios didn’t specifically know that Farley was going to submit a letter in her name, and that she didn’t talk to Rios on the phone until after she handed the letter over to a staffer with LaRose’s office.
Rios, who also testified during Tuesday‘s hearing, said she didn’t understand what Farley had done until after the letter was turned in.
Stein, a Massachusetts physician and environmental activist, is one of six presidential candidates on the ballot this year in Ohio. As the Green Party’s presidential nominee in 2016, Stein got 46,271 votes in Ohio, or 0.84% of the statewide vote.
Stein is running as an independent candidate in Ohio this year because the Ohio Green Party lost state recognition several years ago.
Jeremy Pelzer covers state politics and policy for Cleveland.com and The Plain Dealer.