The Green Party is not ballot-qualified in Illinois, but it is ballot-qualified in two U.S. House districts in Illinois, and it nominates by primary in those two districts. In the 5th district in Chicago, three Greens filed and two of them were challenged. Richard Mayers was removed from the Green Party primary ballot on the grounds that he is not registered to vote. Rob Sherman remained on the ballot. He will face Warren Grimsley in the March primary.
Both the Ninth and Tenth Circuits have ruled that states cannot require candidates for Congress to be registered voters. But Illinois is in the Seventh Circuit, where the issue has never been litigated. The Green Party is not sympathetic to Richard Mayers because his political views do not match the party’s values.
In the context of a political world where the Greens represent less than 1% of voters, I think it’s bad for democratic participation that Mayers was struck from the ballot. Primaries are a great way to get voters engaged in voting. It would have been fun to see a debate between Mayer and the other candidates.