Friend, 

The two-party system has made it extremely difficult for people-powered campaigns like ours to get on the ballot, and some states make it much harder than others. Right now, we’re turning our focus to the next big challenge: Illinois. We have to submit 25,000 valid signatures by the June 24th deadline - meaning we need closer to 50,000 signatures to be able to withstand a likely challenge from the Democratic Party.

Democrats across the country are hiring political operatives and lawyers to keep grassroots campaigns like ours off the ballot. We can’t let them succeed. 

We’re going all out to make sure over 8 million Illinois voters have a pro-worker, anti-war, anti-genocide, climate action choice on the ballot - and to make it happen we need your help now.

Our most critical need right now is for people to collect signatures in Illinois. If you can petition in Illinois, we need your help! There are more ways to help too - like providing homestays for volunteers petitioning in Illinois.

However you can help, please let us know now:

We also need everyone to donate whatever they can to help fund this urgent ballot drive. To undertake this massive and critically important petition drive, we need to raise $300,000 this month. Every dollar you can donate moves us closer to the crucial goal of getting 25,000 valid signatures in Illinois. Please pitch in as much as you can now to help make it happen!

You’ve likely heard by now about the astounding volunteer mobilization in New York that brought in 10 times as many signatures as all other grassroots campaigns! Though we fell just short of New York’s outrageous ballot access signature requirement, we’re not done fighting. We are pursuing strong legal options to challenge New York’s unjust, anti-democratic laws and get on the ballot. So we are still very much on track to be the only anti-genocide, pro-worker, climate action campaign on the ballot across the country.

But that all depends on what happens in the next three weeks in Illinois. Like New York, Illinois is another Democratic Party-dominated state that makes it extremely difficult for Greens and other independents to get on the ballot. To get the signatures we need by the fast-approaching deadline, we need everyone who supports this campaign to do what they can to help now.

Our campaign has been building momentum fast. Media attention has exploded, poll numbers are rising, more and more supporters are joining every day - and we are slowly but surely getting on the ballot across the country, with success stories in Alaska, Georgia, Idaho, Nevada and more. But it’s absolutely critical that we harness that momentum to overcome the biggest ballot access challenges - and right now, that means Illinois.

If you believe in this movement for people, planet, and peace that we have struggled so hard for so many years to build, I ask you to rise to seize this historic opportunity for political change and do whatever you can to help us get on the ballot in Illinois.

Please share this urgent message with your friends, family, and fellow activists. We can do this if we all work together - but we need everyone to answer the call.

Thank you for everything you do to fight for an America and a world that works for all of us!

Gratitude and solidarity!

Jill Stein