On February 23, at 1 p.m., a U.S. District Court in New Mexico will hear arguments in Woodruff v Herrera. This hearing concerns the part of the case that argues that the Green Party should be recognized, because it polled a number of votes in 2008 that is greater than 5% of the total vote cast in the state, and because it has registration of more than one-third of 1% of the state total.

The state says the party is not ballot-qualified (even though it meets the requirements to be a major party), because it is not a party. It is not a party because it didn’t poll one-half of 1% for President in 2008, and it didn’t run a candidate for Governor in 2006.

Technically, there are two lawsuits, Woodruff v Herrera, 09-cv-449, and Woodruff and Green Party v Herrera, 10-cv-123. They have been combined for purposes of this hearing.