Thread by @bmoreconnected

One of the questions I get most often as a @mdgreens leader is something like “I love the greens at the local level but why do you run governor and president candidates? You just help the republicans”

Let me answer from a Maryland perspective.

Ballot Access:the ability to be an officially recognized party, run candidates, and have voters affiliate on their registration. In MD this is secured by collecting 10k valid signatures from registered voters.

That status lasts 4 years.

10 k signatures to get on the ballot compared to other states is not outlandish, but it is not insignificant either. The place where MD is on the onerous side and the reason there is not a proliferation of parties in Md is that staying on the ballot is nuts.

In order to stay on the ballot in MD a party can either

A)attain 1% of registered voters

Or

B)get 1% in top of ticket race (President Or Governor)

If a party achieves one of these two things, they get a 2 year extension.

For a “third party” to get 1% of the registered voters in MD they would have to move from 10 k signatures of registered voters to (as of December) 39,036 voters affiliated with their party.

Because it is a percentage the goal is constantly moving.

No party has hit this goal

So according to MD State law the only viable pathway to maintaining ballot access for a 3rd party is to run for the top of the ticket race and get 1% of the total vote.

In a presidential 1% vote for President
In a gubernatorial 1% vote for Governor.

Many states tie ballot access directly to Party performance in elections. In some states it’s 2%, others 5%. In some states it is top of the ticket in other states itvis anything state wide.

Star this part

⭐️⭐️⭐️Tying ballot access to party performance on the top of the ballot makes third party Governor and president candidates inevitable. ⭐️⭐️⭐️

So that is the FUNCTIONAL reason that state law forces the @mdgreens to run gubernatorial and presidential candidates.

Now let’s talk about why IT IS GOOD

Point 1-From an organizing perspective a statewide campaign gives third parties the ability to build across the state. The 2016 election cycle started with 3 county level @mdgreens chapters, Balt City, Moco, AA.

This is the current map

In this 2018 cycle there will be at least a dozen @mdgreens candidates in at least 6 Counties.

State wide and national campaigns plant seeds. They reach people and most importantly they create the possibility that parties like the @mdgreens CAN focus on local elections.

By the end of this year’s gubernatorial campaign the @mdgreens expect to have local representatives and chapters in every part of the states.

For “minor parties” to grow to be a force at the local levels, top of the ticket races are a great way to do it.

Finally, it’s good for Democracy. The @mdgreens top of the ticket campaigns engage issues and voters that are left behind in the big money media dominated races .

An unflinching voice for Democracy, justice, peace, and ecological wisdom is a good thing.

Include Greens and Libertarians in debates, let voters decide, and publicly fund elections at a lower threshold and turnout will go up along with vote share for the third parties.

Third parties force a lot of the most progressive Solutions in American history and when voters have full access to the message they vote in larger numbers than when the two parties and the media suppress the reach of 3rd partie.

Ok I’m done for now.

#unroll