What is the Arizona Presidential Preference Election (PPE)?
In the State of Arizona, recognized political parties are eligible to participate in the Presidential Preference Election (“PPE”), in which voters registered with a recognized party express their “preference” for the presidential candidate they would like the party to nominate to appear on the General Election ballot. Thereafter, the designated political party delegates from Arizona must vote for the winner of the PPE at the party’s national convention unless the delegates are released from that obligation based on statutorily-specified circumstances.
Why Isn't the AZGP Eligible to Participate in the 2024 Arizona PPE?
In order to have qualified for the 2024 Arizona PPE, the Arizona Green Party must have submitted our affidavit of 10 electors and valid petition signatures equal to or exceeding the State of Arizona's statutory minimum requirement for official statewide party recognition and have received official notice of qualification from the AZSOS' Office prior to the December 11th, 2023 candidate filing deadline. Additionally, our party's Presidential candidates who wished to have their names listed on the Green Party's PPE ballot in Arizona needed to have submitted their "Nomination Paper & Notice of Candidacy", as well as either nomination petitions containing a sufficient number of valid signatures, OR certificates of PPE Ballot Qualification from at least two other states before this deadline.
While the Arizona Green Party was successful in our petitioning campaign to qualify for statewide political party recognition, which entitles our party to a place on the ballot for legislative, statewide, and federal races for the next two ensuing General Elections (2024 & 2026), we did not receive official notice of confirmation from the Arizona Secretary of State's Office that we had qualified for statewide party recognition until after the candidate filing deadline for the State of Arizona's Presidential Preference Election ("PPE") had passed. Since only Presidential candidates from recognized political parties may file for the Arizona PPE, none of the GPUS Presidential primary candidates had the ability to meet the qualification requirements before the candidate filing deadline.
How Does This Affect the AZGP's PPE Process?
Because of the fact that the AZGP and our Presidential candidates did not qualify in time to participate in the 2024 Arizona PPE, the AZSOS' Office will not be administering our party's Presidential Preference Election this year like it does for the Democratic and Republican Parties, meaning that registered Green voters in Arizona will not receive a Green Party PPE ballot either by mail, or at polling locations on the day of the PPE. The AZGP itself is responsible for the administration of our own internal processes for electing and apportioning the State of Arizona's delegates to the Green Party of the United States' Presidential Nominating Convention ("GPUS-PNC"). The winner of the GPUS-PNC shall be the candidate that receives the most state delegates at the time of the convention. This winning candidate shall be the candidate that is ultimately listed on the November 2024 AZ General Election ballot as the AZGP's officially recognized and formally nominated candidate for President of the United States, along with their chosen Vice-Presidential running mate.
How Will the AZGP Administer our PPE?
The AZGP will be drawing from past precedent, procedures, and experience gained from administering Green Party Presidential Primary Elections during past cycles in which we did not have official statewide party recognition (such as in the 2020 election), and therefore could not participate in the State of Arizona's PPE. In doing so, we aim to ensure our processes for administering the AZGP's Presidential Primary uphold the values of the Green Party and are as transparent, consistent, inclusive, and fair as possible to both the individual candidates running in the GPUS Presidential Primary, as well as to the registered Green voters of the State of Arizona. To these ends, the AZGP will be utilizing an online ballot that will be made available at the bottom of this page on our website on the first day of early voting (February 21st, 2024), and will be locked and removed from this page when polls close on election day (7PM on March 19th, 2024).
Prior to the official results of the election being calculated and announced, and before AZ's delegates are officially apportioned, the AZGP will manually cross-reference the names and counties of residence on all submitted ballots with those on our active Green voter lists provided to us by the Offices of the 15 County Recorders in the State of Arizona. In the event that a ballot is submitted from an individual who is not a legally eligible voter and/or registered member of the Arizona Green Party, or if inconsistencies are found between the voter's name/county of residence and those that appear on our official registered voter lists, the voter's ballot shall be deemed invalid and will be removed from the calculation of the final results.
What Voting/Apportionment Methodology Will Be Used in This Election?
In keeping with our Key Value of Grassroots Democracy, the Green Party of the United States' Presidential primaries and caucuses award delegates to our Presidential candidates proportionally and not through a majoritarian "winner-take-all" method.
The AZGP will use proportional "ranked-choice" voting (PRCV) to determine the apportionment of our state's delegates. In order to be apportioned one or more of the AZGP's allotted delegates, a candidate must have met the criteria necessary to be qualified to appear on the ballot, and must meet or exceed a minimum vote threshold that is based on the total number of ballots cast in the election and AZGP's total number of available delegates to be apportioned. Each delegate a candidate can earn after the initial threshold is surpassed adds an additional proportional threshold requirement of equivalent percentage amount in order to gain another delegate, up to the total number of delegates available.
After each round of voting, the candidate with the lowest vote total is eliminated, and their votes are immediately transferred to their voters' 2nd choice candidate(s). If all candidates meet or exceed the threshold to receive a delegate in the initial round of voting, then the lowest-scoring candidate will retain any earned delegate(s) from that round and be eliminated, and their votes will be transferred to their 2nd choice candidate(s). This process repeats until either all delegates have been apportioned or there is no mathematical way for a candidate to breach the threshold to receive a delegate. (click here to learn more about how proportional RCV works!)
In the 2024 Presidential Election, the Arizona Green Party has been allotted 4 delegates to the Green Party of the United States' Presidential Nominating Convention. In order to receive a delegate, a candidate must reach the lowest "victory threshold" of 20.0% + 1. Below is a table showing each vote threshold a candidate must exceed in order to be apportioned one of our four delegates.
% of vote needed to receive 1 delegate | % of vote needed to receive 2 delegates | % of vote needed to receive 3 delegates | % of vote needed to receive 4 delegates |
20.0% + 1 | 40.0% + 1 | 60.0% + 1 | 80.0% + 1 |
Who is Running for the Green Party Presidential Nomination?
The list below includes all candidates that have at some point been considered "active" by the GPUS Presidential Campaign Support Committee. Holding an active status does not mean the candidate has received official recognition or endorsement from either AZGP or GPUS, and not all candidates listed here will ultimately appear on the AZGP's online PPE ballot.
Dashaun "Davi" Davis
Campaign Website: https://www.bydavi.com/
Jasmine Sherman
Campaign Website: https://www.jasminesherman2024.com/
Dr. Jill Stein
Campaign Website: https://www.jillstein2024.com/
Jorge Zavala
Campaign Website: https://votejz.org/
Randy Toler
Campaign Website: https://www.tolerforpresident.com/
Which Candidates Will Appear on the AZGP's PPE Ballot?
Only those candidates for the Green Party Presidential nomination that have satisfied the criteria outlined by the GPUS Presidential Campaign Support Committee ("PCSC") in Article 10 of the GPUS' Bylaws, Rules, and Procedures by the time that the voting period begins on February 21st will be considered as recognized candidates and appear on the ballot for the AZGP's 2024 PPE. The listed names of these candidates will be placed on the ballot in alphabetical order by last name.
[NOTE: While we support the legitimacy and right of write-in candidates to participate as official candidates in elections on principle, the Arizona PPE does not allow voters to write-in a candidate on a party's PPE ballot.]
What Dates & Deadlines are Important to Remember?
The deadline for Arizona voters to register with a recognized and participating political party in the 2024 PPE is February 20th. Mail-in ballots are sent out and early voting begins on February 21st, and all ballots are due by the time the polls close at 7PM on March 19th, the day of the PPE election.
While the AZGP did not qualify and is not participating in the State of Arizona's PPE, and are therefore not subject to the same statutory schedule and requirements as those recognized political parties that are participating in the PPE, we intend to keep all dates and deadlines for voter registration, early voting, and ballot submission as consistent as possible with those of the Arizona PPE in order to minimize voter confusion, and to ensure as much synchronicity with AZ statutes regarding the PPE as is practical, while simultaneously ensuring that our internal procedures for the apportionment of our state's delegates remain reflective of our party's 4 Pillars and Ten Key Values.
How Do AZ Voters Participate in the AZGP's 2024 PPE?
Arizona residents who would like to participate in the AZGP's 2024 PPE must be legally eligible and registered to vote in the State of Arizona, and have indicated their political party preference as "Green Party" on their AZ voter registrations by the February 20th deadline prescribed by the State of Arizona's PPE process. AZ residents with a valid driver's license can register to vote or update their voter registration online.
On February 21st, 2024 at 8AM, an online ballot through Google Forms will open and become available at the bottom of this page on our website for eligible voters to cast their votes in the AZGP's PPE. This form will be available for submissions until the polls close at 7PM on March 19th, the day of the PPE. Once polls close, the AZGP will begin cross-referencing the names and counties of residence provided on all ballots submitted with those on our lists of registered Green Party voters from the County Recorders. Any ballot submissions from voters who are not registered Green Party members in Arizona, were not registered Green Party members before the February 20th registration deadline, or that have inconsistencies between the names/counties listed on their ballot and those that are listed on our active Green Party voter lists from the County Recorders will be deemed invalid and purged from the calculations of the final results.
IMPORTANT: When submitting your ballot, please ensure that the first name, last name, and county of residence you provide matches EXACTLY to those that appear on your AZ voter registration cards in order to have your ballot not be invalidated.
When Will the Official Results be Announced?
From the moment the polls close on the day of the PPE, the AZGP will begin the process of manually checking and removing any invalidated submissions from the data and calculating the final results of the primary. As soon as this process is completed and we are sure that the final results are true and accurately calculated, the AZGP will announce the results to our members via our website and our social media pages.