Green Party Primary Coverage

One report from Boston, but no statewide returns from Massachusetts yet:

From Massachusetts, from the Wicked Local:

"…the Green Party, where in Boston, 184 people cast ballots. Ralph Nader emerged the winner in the city with 67 votes, compared to 64 for second-place finisher Cynthia McKinney. There were also 26 write-ins and 14 people who had no preference…"

In California, where Nader’s name was directly on the ballot, Nader is leading with 66.8%, with former Congresswoman Cynthia McKinney in second place with 19.9%. There were actually similar results in the California Peace and Freedom Party, where Nader is winning with 40.2% of the vote, Cynthia McKinney is in second with 21.3% (despite being enrolled Green Party), and Gloria La Riva is in third with 20.6%.

Also in the California Green Party primary, it is noteworthy that former Black Panther Party Chair Elaine Brown came in 3rd place, in front of many other greens vying for the nomination. Ms. Brown received over a thousand votes in California, even after withdrawing from the race and resigning from the party. Ms. Brown's vote tallies may reflect a statement from grassroots greens to the national party about how diversity issues are handled in the party.

In Illinois, Ralph Nader’s name was not on the ballot (because of not being a declared candidate.) So, the McKinney-Nader match-up is hard to make a determination by. Though, McKinney won the whole Green field in Illinois with 57%. Howie Hawkins, as a stand-in for Nader, received 17%. Though, these Hawkins/Nader results may simply reflect a lack of understanding that Hawkins was a stand-in for Nader. Of course, the national media ignores our humble, third party. In addition, the national Green Party was late in sending out the summary press release listing which candidates were on which ballots.

In Arkansas, Nader was not even a choice on the ballot. So, one might imagine that the some of the 53% of greens there who voted “uncommitted” might have been expressing a wish for Nader to be listed. Regardless, the winner in Arkansas was Cynthia McKinney with 21% of the lead. With Jared Ball in second place at 11%.

Problems at the Polls: Unfair administering of the Green Party primary by the election officials:

Reports back from Illinois, Arkansas and California that pollworkers and systems made it difficult to even cast a Green Party vote. In Illinois-I think separate from the Green Party-they had an incident of a pollworker falsely telling people that their vote could be cast in “invisible” ink, it was because he gave them a touch-screen stylus instead of a pen. Ironically, the Wall Street Journal inadvertently corroborated reports of problems in California, by quoting a very nice “Green Party member” who was saying that he was going to vote for Hillary Clinton, and instead voted for Obama. In Green Party, Greens were supposed to get Green ballots. Other reports said this was confused and not working correctly.

The Green Party is an alternative to the two corporate parties. The Four Pillars of the Green Party are: Grassroots Democracy; Economic and Social Justice; Ecological Wisdom; and Non-Violence/Peace.

Oops. Just wanted to correct my summary a bit. I suppose Elaine Brown cannot be called a contender for the Green Party nomination, since she has withdrawn. Though, Elaine Brown was on the ballot in California and other states. And, many greens wish she would return to the party and the presidential race.

Sorry for any confusion.

Kimberly Wilder

Think these results change the order of finishing reported in my article:

California Peace and Freedom Party primary results

Friday, February 8, 2008

Report from La Riva/Puryear presidential campaign (updated)

The results in California’s Peace and Freedom Party primary as of February 8 at 6:44 pm PT, with 100% of precincts reporting:

Ralph Nader (Green Party): 40.0 percent

Gloria La Riva (PFP and Party for Socialism and Liberation): 21.4 percent

Cynthia McKinney (Green Party): 21.0 percent

John Crockford (PFP): 5.5 percent

Brian P. Moore (Socialist Party): 5.3 percent

Stewart Alexander (PFP and Socialist Party): 5.2 percent

Stanley Hetz: 1.6 percent