|
|
August 10, 2001: Greens Reject Republican Money, Challenge Democrats to Support Instant Runoff Voting (IRV). |
|
G.O.P. offers of "spoiler" money to Green candidates inevitable under the existing election system. |
|
Contacts: |
|
WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Green Party organizers say that the flap over money given to a Green Party candidate for Washington state legislature by a Republican proves the flaws in our at-large voting system, and call the Democratic Party's response short-sighted and typically self-delusional about the danger Democrats face from Green 'spoilers.' "Democrats have colluded with Republicans for decades in blocking third party and independent candidates, by maintaining anti-democratic at-large election systems and through ballot access laws designed by the major parties to give themselves a virtual monopoly on elections in many states," said David Cobb, general counsel for the Green Party of the United States. "So it's difficult for Greens to take seriously Democratic outrage when the system doesn't work to their advantage." According to news reports published on August 8, Republicans contributed money to the campaign of Green candidate Young S. Han, who announced that the donation will be returned when he learned that it came from a GOP operative hoping that Han would pull votes away from the Democratic candidate. Republicans also recruited Michael Jepson, who had no prior connection with the Green Party, to run as a Green in a Seattle County race. Greens call this kind of manipulation inevitable in at-large elections. Kara Ceriello, state chair of the Green Party of Washington State, noted that the party expects Jepson to withdraw from the race and awaits a written admission from the Republican infiltrators that the so-called Green convention they held to nominate him was invalid. Holly Hart, secretary of the Iowa Green Party, said, "If the Democrats are disturbed over the possibility that Greens may spoil by taking away votes that belong to Democrats -- which is misleading, because the Democratic Party owns no one's votes, and Democrats must compete for votes like all other candidates and political parties -- then Greens challenge them to lead a campaign to enact Instant Run-Off Voting." Instant Run-Off Voting (IRV) ensures that whoever wins an election wins with majority support, while at the same time enabling third party and independent candidates to run without the possibility that their participation will help elect a candidate who wins less than a majority of votes. Under IRV, a Republican would have no motivation to support a Green for the purpose of spoiling a Democratic win. Ironically, the Washington state legislature recently entertained a proposal to replace blanket primaries with IRV, but the bill languished and died before reaching the floor. "Democratic outrage over spoiling is a matter of convenience," said Green Party co-chair Tom Sevigny. "Few Democrats regret the role that Ross Perot played in 1992 and probably 1996 in spoiling the elections for Bush Sr. and Bob Dole. Any Democrat who believes Ralph Nader prevented Al Gore from taking the office that was rightfully his must also believe that George Bush should have been reelected in 1992." "Individuals from other parties contribute to Green campaigns all the time, and they vote for us too," said Green Party secretary Nathalie Paravicini, who noted that the Green Party and its candidates refuse money from corporations. "That's how Green candidates have won 16 -- more than half -- of the 29 elections in which they've run since the beginning of 2001. While Mr. Han is right to return a few hundred dollars to an individual contributor who portrayed his purposes dishonestly, that money hardly compares to the dollars Democrats and Republicans knowingly accept by the millions from wealthy corporate interests whose goal is to influence legislation." Greens also challenge a dishonest comment that came not from a Republican, but from Jim Kainber, executive director of the Washington Democratic Party, who slandered the Greens when he said "This sort of backroom deal is exactly what people are angry about in politics" (AP story, August 8), since it was clear that Mr. Han had no idea of the purpose behind the money he received. "It's a myth that Green candidates set back the progressive movement when they 'spoil' for progressive Democrats," added Scott McLarty, media coordinator for the Green Party. "Progressive Democrats have already been frozen out by the mainstream of their party, and they serve a sort of decoy purpose now -- to lure voters who care about social, economic, and environmental justice into a party that has discarded these values, thanks to the influence of corporate lobbies and largesse and their own rhetoric about bipartisanship." "That's the history of the Clinton-Gore Administration and of most Congressional Democrats since George W. Bush took office. That's why it's important that Green candidates run in as many races as possible -- and win." MORE INFORMATION search: prty, elct, elws |
