The Baltimore City Green Party (BGP) uses a set of procedures to determine our nominees for offices that pertain to the Baltimore City jurisdiction, including:

• state senator
• state delegate
• state’s attorney
• clerk of the Circuit Court
• registrar of wills
• judge of the Orphans Court
• sheriff
  

For State-wide or Federal Races please inquire with the Maryland Green Party 

For the 2022 elections, all candidates seeking the nomination of the Baltimore City Green Party must:

1. File a Declaration of Intent with the Maryland State Board of Elections, as required by state law. The deadline for filing the Declaration of Intent to participate in the party primary is July 5, 2022. Candidates must have a Green Party voter affiliation at the time of the filing of the Declaration of Intent.
   
   
2. Notify the Steering Committee of the Baltimore City Green Party (BGP Steering Committee or S.C.) of their intent to run by sending an email to [email protected] if they wish to appear on the primary ballot.  
   
   
3. Participate in a Baltimore City Green party Membership Meeting and provide information about themselves and their campaign. Candidates will complete and submit in advance a survey based on how they intend to apply the Green Party's 10 Key Values to their campaign and, if elected, their term in office.
   
   Prospective candidates should also plan to answer additional questions on policy, values, campaigning, and other topics in an open forum format at the Membership Meeting. Candidates are strongly encouraged to present a plan for how they will run their campaign, including specific goals for the campaign, initial fundraising and field plans, and a projected volunteer base.
   
   The membership will vote by secret ballot on all candidates seeking to appear on the July 2022 primary ballot (see alternate method a candidate can get on the Primary ballot below) at a Membership Meeting prior to the July 2022 primary. Members not present at the meeting will have the opportunity to vote that day via electronic voting. No proxy voting will be allowed.
   
   Alternatively, a prospective candidate may appear on the primary ballot by collecting signatures and a current preferred contact method (phone number or email) of currently registered Greens in their district equal to or greater than the number of current BGP members as of the last day of the month prior to submission (this number will be provided by the Co-Chair or Membership Coordinator of the BGP Steering Committee).
   
   If there are fewer registered Greens in a given district than current BGP members, the prospective candidate will collect signatures from a simple majority of the total registered Greens in that district. The signatures must be collected on a form designated by the BGP Steering Committee and delivered to a member of the Steering Committee at least four full weeks prior to the July Primary. The delivery must take place in person or by mail with a scanned version sent to [email protected].
   
   Prospective candidates seeking to place their name on the July Primary ballot must still come before a meeting of the membership and complete the publicly posted survey, but in this case, the membership will not hold a vote. During the month prior to the July Primary until the Board of Elections filing deadline, the signature-gathering method will be closed. 
   
   If a prospective candidate loses a vote of the BGP membership, they may still attempt to place their name on the primary ballot via the signature-gathering process if they submit the signatures within the timeframe described above.
   
   Candidates who appeared on the primary ballot for the Democrat or Republican Parties in 2022 may not appear on the BGP Primary ballot.
   
   Per Maryland state law, the Maryland Green Party Coordinating Committee is the ultimate body that forwards the final Certificate of Nomination of candidates who will appear in the General Election to the Board of Elections, and under circumstances when evidence exists of egregious violations of Key Values by a prospective candidate, may choose not to forward a Certificate for that candidate. 

Baltimore City Green Party Primary Election Committee

The Baltimore City Green Party Steering Committee will appoint a Primary Committee, which will conduct a Green Party “Primary” for all candidates on the ballot. The Primary Committee will endeavor to notify all registered Greens (see Appendix D) in Baltimore City of the primary election. 

The Primary Committee will set a date in July 2022 and conduct an election whereby the registered Greens of that district shall vote and ultimately decide from among the candidates who shall be the official Green Party nominees for those ballot lines.  A “None of the Above” option shall be included and recognized. If “None of the Above” wins, or if there is no candidate for a position, a vacancy shall remain for that particular ballot line.

The membership will have the option to fill the vacancy with a brand new candidate up until the Board of Elections deadline, but cannot appoint the candidate who previously appeared for that position on the primary ballot.

If a State Senate or State Delegate district crosses into another county and if:

a) a recognized local Green exists in that county, then the Steering Committee will work with that local Green to implement a nomination process.

b) if a recognized local does not exist in that county, the process outlined in this document will be used. 

Any questions regarding this process may be answered by the Baltimore City Green Party Steering Committee.

• ARTICLE III. STRUCTURE

1. Membership

A.) Requirements

1. The Baltimore City Green Party is an individual membership organization, open to residents of  Baltimore City and to all residents of state legislative districts that exist in Baltimore City and a different county, who meet the criteria below and who subscribe to the 10 Key Values of the Green Party, as stated in section
2. Any Baltimore City resident who meets the criteria below may become a Decision-Making Member of the BGP Local.
3. Dues. Decision-Making Members must make a yearly or monthly payment of dues. All decision-making members shall pay dues that they can reasonably afford, or find a sponsor to cover their dues.

a.) All BGP Decision-Making Members shall pay at least $12 per year ($1/month) in dues. See the appendix for the suggested sliding scale.

b.) Any changes to dues shall be determined by a vote of the decision-making member at BGP General Membership meeting. The dues requirements will be displayed on the party's website.

c.) Membership dues are waived for all who meet the criteria in section 4c.)

1. Party Affiliation. Decision-Making Members must affiliate with the Green Party.
   1. In the presence of a Green Party ballot line, Decision-Making Members must register to vote as a Green Party members.
   2. In the absence of a Green Party ballot line, Decision-Making Members must register as “Other: Green Party” or “Unaffiliated.”
   3. For individuals who are unable to register to vote due to age or legal status, they may sign an internal BGP document that expresses their intention to be counted as BGP Decision-Making Members. Members must be at least 16 years old.

Appendix 3- Registered Greens.

• In the event that a “primary” is called for, the voters eligible to vote in this “primary” shall include all registered voters of the district in question who have affiliated with the Green Party. This list of voters is larger than the subset of “Decision-Making Members” referenced in Appendix C.
  
• In addition, the BGP shall include in its voting electorate all residents of the district, at least 16 years old, who are not legally eligible to register to vote, but who have signed an internal BGP document expressing their desire to be considered a Green Party member. This policy allows non-citizens to become members of the BGP and participate in our internal decision-making.