GOP Secretary of State Stapleton asks Supreme Court to intervene in Green Party debate

(KPAX) HELENA — Montana Secretary of State Corey Stapleton, a Republican, is asking the United States Supreme Court to intervene in whether or not the Green Party should be allowed on Montana’s Nov. 3 general election ballot.

The request follows the Montana Supreme Court and a federal judge rejecting appeals to keep the Green Party on the ballot.

If the U.S. Supreme Court was to take up the case, it is not clear at this time what a ruling from them would have on the ballots given that Montana ballots for the general election need to be certified on Thursday.

The Green Party qualified for the ballot in March, by petition. But it was revealed later that the Montana Republican Party had financed the effort, spending $100,000 on a company to organize the petition drive.

The Democratic Party organized an effort to persuade those who signed the petition to formally withdraw their signatures, saying they’d been deceived.

Stapleton was sued by the Democrats, saying he had improperly denied their withdrawal requests.