By Michael Phillips
In Maryland politics, you don’t need 51% to win—you just need 1% to matter.
At least, that’s the game Andy Ellis is playing.
Ellis, the Green Party candidate for governor, isn’t under any delusions. He’s not riding a unicorn into Government House next year. He knows the system is built to keep people like him out. What’s shocking is how proud the people in power seem to be about it.
“The rules aren’t broken. They were designed this way,” Ellis says. “To keep outsiders out and insiders in—indefinitely.”
🚫 You Can’t Sit With Us: The Ballot Access Conspiracy
Let’s break this down.
To stay on the ballot in Maryland, a third party must get 1% of the vote in a statewide race. Not win—just 1%.
Sounds easy, right? Until you realize:
- They’re excluded from state-sponsored debates.
- Denied access to primary elections.
- Ignored by media unless they go viral.
- And buried under a mountain of rules written by the same politicians they’re trying to challenge.
That 1% starts to look a lot like 100%.
“It’s not democracy—it’s a locked country club,” Ellis says. “And most Marylanders don’t even know they’ve been shut out.”
📺 Public TV, Private Gatekeepers
Ellis called out Maryland Public Television (yes, the taxpayer-funded one) for refusing to include non-Democrats and non-Republicans in gubernatorial debates.
“You’re paying for it—but you don’t get to hear from all your options. That’s a public disservice.”
He’s not wrong. If Coke and Pepsi were the only drinks allowed in a public cafeteria, people would riot. But in Maryland elections, that’s called “tradition.”
🗳️ The Petition They Don’t Want You to Sign
One of Ellis’s boldest proposals? Let Marylanders put laws directly on the ballot via citizen initiative—like they can in 26 other states.
So why hasn’t it happened?
“Because the people who control the legislature don’t want you writing the laws. They want you reading the laws they write,” Ellis says. “Then quietly paying for them.”
He’s threatening to veto every bill the legislature sends him until they pass a constitutional amendment allowing citizen-led ballot initiatives.
(Yes, they can override his veto. But not without showing their hand.)
⚠️ When Winning Isn’t the Point
Ellis knows he’s not the favorite. That’s not his game.
His goal is to build pressure, expose the power hoarding, and wake up the independent voter majority that Maryland quietly gerrymanders into irrelevance.
“If we can’t win under the current rules, then maybe the rules are the problem—not the voters.”
📊 100,000 Votes. No Billionaires Required.
Ellis is aiming for 100,000 votes—not to win, but to shatter the myth that Maryland is happy with its status quo.
If he hits that number, the two-party duopoly will have to answer for it. So will the media. So will every politician who’s spent the last decade pretending that democracy is something you buy, not something you build.
📣 Final Thought: They’re Not Afraid You’ll Lose. They’re Afraid You’ll Count.
So, Maryland—ask yourself:
Why is a 1% vote share such a threat to people in power?
And if your voice isn’t being heard now… maybe it’s time to crank the volume up.
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