Sam Husseini’s name will appear on the Nov. 3 ballot as a Green Party candidate for Maryland’s 4th District seat in Congress, after state election officials certified his candidacy this week.
It wasn’t easy.
Like the handful of other third-party candidates whose candidacies were accepted Monday, Husseini had to overcome a “huge hurdle” to get on the general election ballot that candidates in the two major parties don’t have to deal with. And he will continue to deal with challenges that include limited campaign funds, lack of exposure and scant party support.
“We don’t have the machinery that the establishment parties do,” Husseini said. “So it’s a matter of translating that discontent that I think exists in the public to organize itself so that it forces a change at the ballot box.”
The Maryland Board of Elections finalized ballots and certified all third-party candidates Monday for the Nov. 3 general election, more than two months after state-run primaries for the Democratic and Republican parties picked the candidates for those parties.
Of the 17 independents and third-party candidates who were listed at the time of the June 23 primary as having filed a notice of intent to run for office, just five were able to make the official ballot Monday, mostly Green Party candidates and a few Working Class Party candidates.
Write-in candidates have until Oct. 15 to file their candidacy paperwork, but their names will not appear on any ballots.
Green Party and Working Class Party candidates had until early July to submit a Declaration of Intent and have an established campaign committee to be approved to run.
For Republicans and Democrats, they were able to advance to the Nov. 3 ballot after winning their primaries. Third-party candidates have to hold their own nominating processes — but first they have to be accepted as a party by the state.
Under Maryland law, third parties that did not receive 1% of the total votes cast for the highest office in the previous general election have to 10,000 valid voter signatures to be ballot certified for the next election.
The Green Party met this qualification during the 2024 presidential election, when candidate Jill Stein received 1% of the Maryland vote, and reserved its spot for a party nominee this year.
The Working Class Party was not so lucky. Cathy White and Cathy Permut, the party’s gubernatorial running mates, said they collected more than 12,000 signatures to secure their spot on the final ballot, according to the party’s campaign website.
Green Party gubernatorial candidate Andy Ellis said these disparities between rules for principal party candidates and third-party candidates leave a subsect of voters and candidates out of the competition.
Matthew Crenson, professor emeritus in political science at Johns Hopkins University, agreed.
“You’re simply not a part of the game,” said Crenson, who has an expertise in Maryland politics.
Maryland voters can only participate in primary elections if they are registered with either major political party. Voters who do not select a party when registering are marked as “unaffiliated.”
Getting on the ballot is just part of the battle: Third-party or unaffiliated candidates are often excluded from high-profile campaign debates.
A debate between incumbent Gov. Wes Moore (D) and Republican challenger Dan Cox on Maryland Public Television is set for Oct. 6. Current MPT policy requires candidates to obtain 10% in a public poll in order to qualify for the debate, meaning third-party candidates are typically left out of the conversation.
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