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Greens Go to the Polls, 'Get Out The Vote' in Florida and Other States. |
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GREEN PARTY OF THE UNITED STATES GREEN RELEASE Greens work polls, help 'get out the
vote' in Fla., other states Contacts: GREENS WORK POLLS, HELP 'GET OUT THE VOTE' IN FLORIDA AND OTHER STATES Unprecedented numbers of Green candidates in many states, endorsements, and registrations; many Greens faced Democrats who used Republican-style maneuvers to keep them off the ballot. *** Election Day media availability for national Green candidates David Cobb and Pat LaMarche, state and local Green candidates, and Green Party media coordinators: http://www.gp.org/press/pr_11_01_04.html *** Results for state and local Green campaigns: http://www.gp.org/patience.html WASHINGTON, D.C. -- Thousands of Greens campaigned outside polling stations across the U.S. today to win votes for presidential contender David Cobb and other Green candidates. Meanwhile, Green Party national co-chair Jody Grage Haug, party activist and CodePink leader Medea Benjamin, and several other Greens headed to Florida to help people vote and to observe at polls. The Green Party responded to widespread reports of vote manipulation and obstruction in Florida, Ohio, and other states and voting machine glitches with a renewed demand for auditable paper ballots and enforcement of the 14th Amendment, Section 2, penalizing states when votes are blocked. "The Republican Party has become synonymous with engineered elections and voter obstruction," said Marc Sanson, co-chair of the Green Party of the United States. "They're especially targeting African Americans, as well as older and disabled voters who are likely to vote Democrat. But we've also witnessed similar behavior from Democrats towards Green candidates, as well as vicious and underhanded attempts to bar [independent presidential candidate] Ralph Nader from the ballot in some states." Democrats in Maine tried to keep Green incumbent state legislator John Eder <http://www.repjohneder.com> off the ballot by redrawing district lines. Democratic Party operatives in San Francisco succeeded in keeping Terry Baum, Green candidate for Nancy Pelosi's (D.) U.S. House seat <http://www.terrybaum.com>, off the ballot; Ms. Baum is running an aggressive write-in campaign. In Pennsylvania, the chair of the Montgomery County Democratic Party initiated a $50,000 effort to bar 6th Congressional District candidate Dorothy Schieber <http://pa.greens.org/montgomery/dorothy.html> from the ballot by challenging her petition signatures. Although Ms. Schieber handed in five times the number of required signatures, she did not have the money for a court battle, and is now running a write-in campaign. In Champaign County, Illinois, Democrats attempted to purge Green candidates <http://www.ucimc.org/newswire/display/18712/index.php>. Record numbers for Greens in 2004: -- Green candidates are running in 356 races in the 2004 election, with record numbers candidates in California, Delaware, D.C., Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Michigan, Mississippi, Oregon, Rhode Island, South Carolina, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin. -- National Green Party voter registration now stands at an all time high of 311,350 in 22 States. This number doesn't count Greens in states where the Green Party has not yet achieved ballot status or in states that don't permit party registration. State-by-state totals: <http://web.greens.org/stats> -- Green candidates received unprecedented endorsements in 2004. Bob Kinsey, Green candidate for Congress in Colorado's 4th Congressional District <http://www.kinseyforcongress.org>, was endorsed by the Fort Collins Coloradoan, northern Colorado's largest paper. The Iowa City Press-Citizen endorsed U.S. Senate candidate Daryl Northrop <http://www.northropforsenate.org/>. In Illinois, Julie Samuels was endorsed by The Chicago Tribune in her campaign for State Representative (8th District) <http://www.juliesamuels.com>. And Connecticut's largest daily newspaper, The Hartford Courant, endorsed Tom Sevigny for State Senate (8th District) <http://ctgreens.org/sevigny>. MORE INFORMATION search: elct |