Wisconsin Green Party
wisconsingreenparty.org
October 12, 2005
Contacts:
Bob Poeschl Co-Chair carpepax@riseup.net
920-312-0529
Jill Bussiere Co-Chair jdt@wisconsingreenparty.org
920 388-0529, 920 255-2175
The Wisconsin Green Party today endorsed a bill to
be introduced by Representative Mark Pocan (D-Madison) and Senator
Mark Miller (D-Monona) that would allow municipalities the option of
using Instant Runoff Voting (IRV) in local elections. Although the
party endorsed the bill, they also expressed disappointment in the
bill's limitations.
"Representative Pocan's Bill applies only to
local, non-partisan elections and is optional for communities,"
said Bob Poeschl. "Although this bill will enable communities to
do a better job of electing the officials that most people want and
save money at the same time by using IRV, it does nothing to address
the so-called 'spoiler' issue that Democrats and Republicans complain
about whenever a third party candidate enters a partisan race."
The Bill's limitations demonstrate once again that
the establishment parties are not serious about creating an even
playing field for candidates in partisan races that choose to express
their democratic right to run on a party ticket of their choice.
"Democratic and Republican party candidates
and members continue to complain about third party candidates while
doing nothing to reform partisan elections," said Poeschl. "Pocan's
Bill should be amended to require Instant Runoff Voting in
single-office partisan races such as governor and attorney general. To
pass such legislation would restore Wisconsin's reputation as a leader
in progressive reforms."
Even given the limitations of Pocan's Bill,
Wisconsin Greens support it because it represents a step--albeit very
small--in the direction of bringing sanity to elections across the
state.
Greens support a transition to proportional
representation to further improve our undemocratic and ineffective
"winner takes all" system of choosing legislative
representatives.
"We must adopt Proportional Representation
(PR) for legislative elections to ensure the fair representation of
all voters," said Jill Bussiere, Co-Chair of the Wisconsin Green
Party. "Millions of Democrats in Republican areas and Republicans
in Democratic areas are not represented in our system, and the
majority of Greens, Libertarians, and other independents are not
represented at any level of government. Our system should provide fair
representation to all voters, in proportion to their numbers."
The Wisconsin Green Party is affiliated with the
Green Party of the United States, and stands on the four pillars of
Social & Economic Justice, Grassroots Democracy, Nonviolence, and
Ecological Wisdom. For more information, visit http://www.wisconsingreenparty.org.
The Green Party of the United States' website is http://www.gp.org.
For more information on Instant Runoff Voting (IRV)
visit http://www.instantrunoff.com/
For more information about Proportional
Representation, visit http://www.mtholyoke.edu/acad/polit/damy/prlib.htm
