Supreme Court rejects Green Party bid to appear on Nevada presidential ballot

WASHINGTON — The Supreme Court on Friday rejected Green Party presidential nominee Jill Stein’s last-ditch request to be included on the ballot in Nevada, a key swing state.

The court in a brief unsigned order left in place a decision by the Nevada Supreme Court that blocked Stein from appearing on the ballot over a dispute concerning whether the Green Party had submitted the correct paperwork.

State officials had told the court that ballots that do not feature Stein and her running mate, Butch Ware, are already being printed ahead of the Nov. 5 election. Ballots must be sent to overseas military voters by Saturday, with at least one county having already done so.

Forcing a late change to the ballot language “would undermine the integrity of Nevada’s election,” Attorney General Aaron Ford wrote in court papers.

Jay Sekulow, an ally of former President Donald Trump, represented the Green Party. In swing states in particular, third-party candidates can be crucial to the outcome, with the Green Party potentially winning some votes that would otherwise go to the Democratic nominee, Vice President Kamala Harris.

In Nevada, which is expected to be closely contested, the Democrats sued to ensure Stein was not on the ballot.

The case arose from correspondence between the Nevada Green Party and state officials this year over language to include on its petition seeking signatures to appear on the ballot.

But, as both sides conceded, the secretary of state’s office gave the party incorrect information, which led to that language’s appearing on the petition.

The state Democratic Party then sued, saying Stein should not be included on the ballot because of the error and arguing that all of the signatures were invalid.

A state court judge rejected the Democrats’ claim, but the Nevada Supreme Court reversed, saying that Stein’s exclusion was not a federal constitutional violation and that “there is no evidence the email was anything but an unfortunate mistake.”

Sekulow argued in court papers that the Nevada Supreme Court’s ruling violates the Green Party’s 14th Amendment right to equal protection under the law, as well as its due process rights.

Stein and her running mate, Sekulow added, were “wrongfully ripped from the ballot and Nevadans who would vote for them in this election are robbed of the opportunity to do so.”

This article was originally published on NBCNews.com