The Texas Green Party will not be appearing on the statewide ballot in 2018.
On Tuesday night, the deadline for political parties to submit signatures for positions on the 2018 ballot passed, with none of the five parties seeking a place on the ballot reaching the threshold of about 50,000 signatures. The most high-profile party seeking ballot access through the petitioning was the Texas Green Party, which received about 500 signatures, according to the Texas Tribune. The four other parties seeking ballot access were: America’s Party of Texas, the Christian Party of Texas, None of the Above and the Texas Independent Party.
Green Party voters in Texas have traditionally had the party as an option since the 2010 election, as the party has fielded statewide judicial candidates in otherwise uncontested races, ensuring their candidates would reach the 5 percent vote number required to earn a place on the ballot in the upcoming year. However, in the 2016 election, the Party's largest vote share came from Railroad Commissioner nominee Martina Salinas. Salinas won 3.28 percent statewide, missing the 5 percent hurdle.
While the Green Party of Texas missed the signature threshold, candidates nominated by the Green Party may file to run statewide as write-in candidates. In these races, voters will be required to write the name of the candidate in the blank to cast a vote for the Green Party nominee. Candidates from the other four parties, in addition to non-affiliated candidates, may also file as write-in candidates.
If no candidate files as a write-in, voters will still have three options listed on the ballot. Voters may choose from candidates nominated by the Republican Party, Democratic Party and Libertarian Party. Libertarians secured their 2018 ballot position in 2016, when Railroad Commissioner Mark Miller won 5.28 percent statewide in that cycle.
Election Day is November 6th.
