New NC election rules should help the party of Jill Stein. And don't forget the Whigs.

Democrats, Republicans and Libertarians are running for office across North Carolina. Now a fourth political party is expected to appear on some of this year's ballots: The N.C. Green Party.

The Green Party will likely get ballot access as a result of a 2017 state law that makes it easier for third parties to get their candidates on the ballot.

Because the change wasn't official before candidate filing, the party plans to nominate its candidates for legislature, Congress and other offices during its convention in July.

Senate Bill 656 reduced the number of signatures required for third parties to get on the ballot, but it also created an alternative for parties with ballot access elsewhere. Any party that appeared on ballots in at least 70 percent of states in the last presidential election can apply for automatic access in North Carolina.

The new State Board of Elections and Ethics Enforcement is scheduled to discuss an application from the Green Party during its meeting Tuesday afternoon. Action on the application had been delayed because the board was vacant for months during a lawsuit.

The elections agency says the Green Party appears to be the only new party that meets the 70 percent requirement.

Jan Martell, co-chair of the N.C. Green Party, said the application was submitted at the beginning of the year. "The Green Party's 2016 presidential candidate, Jill Stein, was on the ballot in all but 3 states, and the party was fully recognized in at least 73 percent of the states," she said.

"As a new party, we don't participate in the primaries but choose our candidates by convention, probably in July."

The state Green Party has received a $5,000 grant from the national party to "hire organizers, and help cover candidate filing fees and any legal fees," according to its website.

The Green Party is a left-leaning, environmentalist party that lists as its values "grassroots democracy, ecological wisdom, non-violence, and social justice and equal opportunity."

It has faced criticism in the past that it plays a "spoiler" role by attracting voters who might otherwise pick Democratic Party candidates.

Other third parties will still need to gather signatures to get on North Carolina's ballot, but SB 656 lowered the number required from 2 percent of the total votes cast in the last governor's race to 0.25 percent. That's 11,925 signatures of registered voters, according to the state elections agency.

So far, six other parties have filed paperwork to begin collecting signatures: the Constituent Party, the Constitution Party, the Progressive Party, The People's Party, the Veterans Party and the Whig Party.

The Constitution Party has the most verified signatures with 1,580 as of this month; The People's Party has two signatures and the rest have none so far. The deadline for the current pending applications is May 31, 2020, to get ballot access in that year's election.

N.C. Whig Party Chairman Jason Goodfriend says he's begun collecting signatures. "Unfortunately, the Whig effort in NC is really just getting started, and lags behind the efforts of other states, where Whig-affiliated candidates are running," Goodfriend said in an email. "We are really aiming to get all the signatures in for the 2020 elections, and we are likely to have a presidential candidate (very likely to be well-known economist Laurence Kotlikoff)."

The original Whig Party dissipated after Millard Fillmore's presidency in the 1850s. The Modern Whig Party was founded by military veterans in 2007 and is a centrist party that stresses electoral reform proposals, strong national defense and fiscal responsibility. Its platform includes merit pay for teachers, a simplified tax code and an end to non-crisis deficit spending.

The Progressive Party is a one-man operation so far led by Andrew Gorman. "The lowering of the signatures is certainly a good thing, and healthy for having democratic representation," he said. "As of right now I'm trying to build up the structure for this new party, and then at the same time get signatures for it. The Progressive Party in NC is a new party and when it grows, will likely focus on local and state elections."

The website says the platform includes "free and fair elections, universal healthcare, progressive tax reforms, strengthened social security, and other policies which benefit working people."

This story was originally published March 26, 2018 at 4:32 PM with the headline "New NC election rules should help the party of Jill Stein. And don't forget the Whigs.."