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| D.C. Statehood Greens to Select Convention Delegates May 6. |
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THE D.C. STATEHOOD GREEN PARTY Contact: Scott McLarty, Media Coordinator, 202-518-5624, scottmclarty@yahoo.com State Delegate Selection Hindered by the D.C. Election Board's Refusal to Provide a Complete Primary Vote Count. WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The D.C. Statehood Green Party will choose delegates for the Green Party's national convention at the local party's monthly general membership meeting on Thursday, May 6. The 2004: Green Party Presidential Nomination will take place in Milwaukee, Wisconsin from June 23 to 28, at the Midwest Center, Milwaukee Theater, and the Milwaukee Hyatt Regency. Delegates from all state Green Parties affiliated with the Green Party of the United States, including the D.C. Statehood Green Party, will participate in the selection of the party's 2004 candidate for the White House. Statehood Green leaders claim that the D.C. Board of Elections and Ethics has blocked the party from selecting delegates according to the wishes of registered Statehood Green voters, because the board has refused to release the names and numbers of votes for write-in candidates. "31% of party members who voted in the January 13 primary voted for write-ins, but the Board of Elections and Ethics won't let us count their votes and apportion delegates accordingly," said Chris Otten, member the D.C. Statehood Green Party's steering committee. "As many as three of the 11 Statehood Green delegates could be determined by the write-in votes. But without these write-in names and vote counts, we can't select these delegates. The legitimate votes of 116 Statehood Green voters have been disqualified." When board refused to recount the primary ballots and inform the Statehood Green Party of the vote count for write-ins, board officials explained that they can only release this information to a candidate who specifically requested it with a signed document, which had to be received by 4 p.m. on Tuesday, February 3. Statehood Greens have been told that board regulations direct the board not to count write-ins unless the count will modify the outcome of an election, which the board interprets to mean 'the clear winner.' "The Board of Elections and Ethics doesn't seem to understand that the chief purpose of presidential primaries is not to produce a winner, but to help a local party choose delegates for its national convention in proportion to the votes of party members," said Maya O'Connor, D.C. Statehood Green delegate to the national party's Coordinating Committee. "When the board approved the D.C. Statehood Green Party's '2004 Presidential Preference Primary Election Plan' in 2003, it took on an obligation to cooperate with the plan and to supply us with all the necessary information to choose our delegates." On February 6, David Best, one of the write-in voters affected, filed a legal complaint about the board's obstruction. The case will be argued before the D.C. Court of Appeals, Judges Kern, Ruiz, and Washington presiding, on May 25. Green presidential hopeful David Cobb drew the most Statehood Green primary votes, with 36.79%. Write-ins came in second, with 31.87%. 18.39% chose Sheila Bilyeu; 12.95% voted for 'no candidate.' MORE INFORMATION |
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