Don’t waste your vote this election, #InvestYourVote.
Why should we allow the corporate parties to spoil our elections anymore? “Lesser evilism” has brought us everything we feared – erosion of our civil liberties and civil rights, mass deportations, ongoing wars and a massive refugee crisis, a meltdown of our climate and the crashing of our economy.
It’s time to stand up and say no more! And you can feel safer about your vote not helping someone you don’t want because we don’t live in a “swing state.”
Here are the 5 ways a Jill Stein vote in Minnesota wins no matter what.
1. Jill Stein wins the state.
Ok, so this is an obvious one. In a state with a rich tradition of third-party politics we know it’s possible for third parties to win elections (remember Jesse Ventura? The Farmer Labor Party?). A win in Minnesota would undeniably rock the halls of power in our state.
2. Jill Stein wins 5% of the vote statewide.
When a political party wins 5% of the vote for a statewide office such as Governor, Secretary of State, State Auditor, Attorney General, or President, it is then recognized by the state as a Major Political Party. Currently Green Party of Minnesota is a Minor Party. Minor Parties are required to gather signatures to put candidates on the ballot in any partisan race (State Senate, State House, US House, US Senate and all statewide races including President). Major Parties are granted automatic ballot access, are eligible for public funding of campaigns, and are included in debates and polls. Being a Major Party would also give the Green Party a huge boost in our ability to organize, raise our public profile, recruit candidates for local, state and national office, and influence Minnesota politics. Currently there are only two Major Parties in the state – the DFL and Minnesota GOP.
3. Jill Stein wins 1% of the vote statewide.
Currently Green Party of Minnesota is a Minor Party, but that status is lost if all of our statewide candidates receive less than 1% of the vote in 2018. If Jill Stein wins 1% of the vote this year our Minor Party status is renewed until 2020, freeing the party up to run more bold campaigns with more candidates statewide in 2018. Minor Party status is, of course, not as good as Major Party status, but it does recognize us as a political party and gives us access to some public campaign financing such as the checkoff on taxes.
4. Every vote is a statement for what we want, instead of a statement for what we don’t want.
Aspirational politics is all but missing from modern government. Jill Stein and the Greens are pushing the important issues that are popular and desperately necessary to solve the major crises we face. The Greens are the only party advocating health care as a human right with a Medicare-for-all system, abolishing crushing student debt, ending fossil fuels and moving rapidly toward renewable energy by 2030, ending US wars in the Middle East by stopping the flow of arms and money to terrorist groups, and revitalizing the US economy with a federal minimum wage of $15 and a massive jobs program. The platform of Jill Stein and the Green Party embodies concrete, practical plans to build the sustainable, equitable and peaceful world the vast majority of humanity yearns for. A vote for her is a vote for hope that we can have a system that really solves problems.
5. A strong vote for Jill Stein will push our country toward a fair voting system.
When people feel forced to vote against a candidate they don’t want rather than for one they do want, democracy is broken. The easiest, most immediate way to reduce the fear that dominates in national elections and start to repair our democracy is to implement a fairer voting system such as Ranked Choice Voting, now in use in Minneapolis and St. Paul city elections. By allowing voters to rank the candidates, rather than limiting their choice to just one, Ranked Choice Voting opens the field to more candidates and ultimately, to more parties. Shifting the US to a multi-party system like nearly every single other democracy worldwide is a longer-term change, but it can start with a more democratic voting system.
Find local down-ballot Green candidates by clicking here!
Become a sustaining donor and help us hire a political organizer here!