A Carson City judge has upheld the Green Party’s ability to run a presidential candidate on the Nevada general election ballot, ruling against state Democrats who had argued the progressive third party did not gather sufficient signatures to qualify for the 2024 ballot and its petition to gather signatures contained the wrong affidavit language.

Carson City District Court Judge Kristin Luis made the ruling Monday, writing in an order that she was unconvinced by arguments from the state Democratic Party that she said did not provide enough evidence of invalid signatures or insufficient compliance with the law to justify the party’s removal from the ballot.

“The Democratic Party has not met its burden of demonstrating that the petition is clearly invalid because it has not produced sufficient evidence to show that the petition has less than the required number of valid signatures in any petition district,” the ruling states.

In a statement Monday afternoon, Executive Director of the Nevada Democratic Party Hilary Barrett wrote, “We are disappointed in the Judge’s decision and are exploring our options.”

Co-chair of the Nevada Green Party Margery Hanson responded to the ruling by thanking Luis “for her valuable time.”

Read More: Hearing held, but no ruling yet in suit challenging Green Party’s Nevada ballot status

The Green Party, which has not been on a Nevada general election ballot since 2008, qualified for the state’s ballot in mid-June with about 15,000 valid signatures, well more than the requirement of roughly 10,000 valid signatures. But Nevada Democrats quickly filed a lawsuit challenging the validity of the signatures and the forms used by petition circulators.

Luis’ decision comes just 15 days before the last day a qualified minor political party can file a certificate of nomination to place candidates for the offices of president and vice president on Nevada’s presidential ballot. 

The Green Party has not yet submitted a candidate for the November ballot, but its former presidential candidate, Jill Stein, is running again this year.

This story was updated on 8/12/2024 at 4:51 p.m. to include a statement from the Nevada Democrats and again at 5:29 p.m. to include a statement from the Nevada Green Party.