Human rights during the COVID-19 crisis Latest news from the Santa Clara County Green Party San Jose, Ca – As California ramps up its testing capacity for COVID-19 and a portion of workers are allowed to return to work, let's not forget that over 3 million Californians - and currently about 100,000 Santa Clara County residents - remain without health insurance, the vast majority of whom are undocumented immigrants. Even though Santa Clara County is proposing initiatives to provide health coverage to those who can't afford it, many with coverage can't pay their medical bills and/or avoid going to the doctor or the hospital for fear of contracting the coronavirus. This situation hugely benefits for-profit health insurances at the expense of people's health and well-being. Continue reading

BALTIMORE – Last night the Maryland Green Party filed a lawsuit in Federal Court against Governor Larry Hogan and State Board of Elections Administrator Linda Lamone in order to challenge the unconstitutional application of Maryland’s ballot access laws during the COVID-19 State of Emergency. Since early March when we suspended our in-person petitioning efforts, we have been lobbying the State of Maryland for two demands: 1) allow electronic signature collection and 2) lower the signature threshold to account for the impossibility of petitioning during a global pandemic. Continue reading

Wednesday, May 20, 2020 from 8:00 p.m. to 10:00 p.m.  EDT (US & Canada) Speakers include Rich Whitney from the Illinois Green Party and the Green Party Peace Action Committee Join us for a free teach-in on "Building the Peace Movement." Bring your questions and suggestions. We'll hear briefly from a number of key speakers before moving into Q&A. The teach-in will honor the 50th Anniversaries (1970-2020) of Kent State, Jackson State, and all the victims of wars. Continue reading

PHILADELPHIA – Many Pennsylvania Greens are aware that Jill Stein sued the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania following the 2016 election to reveal that voters could not demand a recount of voting machines that were unverifiable. The subsequent settlement, among other things, required a true paper ballot. Once the counties started purchasing the machines, Stein’s committee found that the Election Systems & Software ExpressVote XL (ES&SXL) did not provide a true paper ballot. She therefore reopened the settlement in November 2019. I was a plaintiff as well an observer in the courtroom in the reopening of the settlement. I also observed the mostly thankless role which Jill Stein had in doing what was right for the voters. Judge Paul S. Diamond released his opinion on April 29, and it was not favorable. Continue reading

PHILADELPHIA – On May 15, the Green Party of Pennsylvania (GPPA) filed suit in the U.S. Court for the Eastern District of PA, demanding relief from unconstitutional election laws which are impossible to meet under emergency COVID-19 measures declared by PA Governor Tom Wolf. PA election rules require a minimum of 5,000 voter signatures for state-wide candidates to be awarded space on the ballot. This involves the effort of dozens of volunteers and hundreds of hours of labor to collect signatures in public before the early August deadline. Under Wolf’s stay-at-home order, volunteers will not be allowed to circulate in public, and there will be no public gatherings for them to attend. Continue reading

FALLS CHURCH, Va – The Green Party of Virginia (GPVA), along with the Constitution Party and independent candidates, joined a lawsuit this week asking for a waiver of signature requirements for ballot access in light of the COVID-19 pandemic and Governor Northam's pursuant emergency stay-at-home order for the state. The GPVA has successfully met the ballot signature requirements for every candidate it has run, including presidential candidates in every presidential election, for at least the previous 12 years. Continue reading

PHILADELPHIA – The Green Party of Pennsylvania just wrapped up our latest Green Wave phone call and we need your help to ensure Greens will be on the ballot this November! We're asking everyone take the following simple steps: Continue reading

ALBANY, NY – Green Party of New York candidates Robert Alft (SD-46) and Steve Greenfield (CD-19), held a press conference in Albany today to present Wall St. with a check for its annual $16 billion in rebates from New York's stock transfer tax. The candidates argued that it was unconscionable for the state to leave $16 billion in potential revenue on the table when the budget shortfall of $13.3 billion could be entirely covered if New York started collecting what amounted to small sales tax on stock trades that has been on the books since 1909. Alft and Greenfield argued the state should rip up that check, collect the Stock Transfer Tax, and stop the savage austerity cuts that are looming. Continue reading

BALTIMORE – The Baltimore City Green Party (BGP) reached full positive consensus at its Monthly General Meeting on July 29, 2017 to issue a statement affirming the centrality of the struggle for Trans Justice in the larger struggle to realize a better Baltimore. While oppression of trans folks has been ongoing in our city, the attack on and resistance of this community is particularly acute now. So, BGP is raising its voice and the voices of its membership: Continue reading