• By Howie Hawkins

The Freedom to Vote Act, the pared down voting rights legislation that Democratic Senators unveiled on September 14, must be supported to preempt GOP state laws for partisan gerrymandering, voter suppression, election subversion, and intimidation of voters and election administrators.

Yet this bill also deserves vigorous protest from the Left for its public campaign financing provisions, which are effectively for the two big capitalist parties only.

In an open letter to Governor Kathy Hochul, the co-chairs of the Green and Libertarian Parties of New York ask her to overturn undemocratic ballot access laws put in place by her predecessor and to restore democracy in New York State.
Link to PDF. Link to GPNY Release.

September 8, 2021

To the Honorable Gov. Kathleen C. Hochul:

We, the co-chairs of the Green and Libertarian Parties of New York, write to you on the occasion of your assuming the office of Governor with a matter decisive for the future of democratic government in New York State. It is within your power to overturn actions made by your predecessor that were made to aggrandize himself and hinder his opponents. These actions have crippled the possibility of democratic competition and good governance in New York. By moving swiftly you can wipe away his tarnished legacy and renew democracy in New York State.

On May 13, U.S. District Court Judge John Koeltl, a Clinton appointee, refused to enjoin the New York ballot access changes made in 2020. Libertarian Party of NY v New York State Board of Elections, s.d., 1:20cv-5820. The opinion says the 2% vote test for president/governor, and the new number of signatures for a statewide office (45,000), are not severe.

The decision cites only precedents that upheld state ballot access laws, and doesn’t mention any precedents that struck them down. It does not mention the March 29, 2021 decision of the Sixth Circuit that struck down Michigan’s 30,000-signature requirement for statewide independent candidates.

This will be the first of several articles that delve into the onslaught against a true democracy's ability to represent the best interests of the people. With these efforts to suppress individual and party participation, we are doomed to governance committed only to policies promoted by the self interests of a very small, unrepresentative elite power structure.

Many of us have recently received a letter from the Monroe County Board of Elections.  This is a misleading letter to trick people to change their registration.

You are still a Green!

Greens knew from the start that 2020 would be a tough year for their presidential ticket. The election would be a referendum on Trump. For most progressives, Anybody But Trump would do.

Our campaign believed that an ecosocialist program is needed for real solutions to the life-or-death issues of climate, inequality, racism, and war. We believed that the way to defeat the Trump Republicans was for the left to put forward its own program and not rely on the Democrats’ pallid centrism, which would not speak to the economic and social anxieties that the Trump far-right has been mobilizing around with racist and conspiracy scapegoating. 

The Capital Pressroom
November 18, 2020

When all the votes are counted, the Green Party of New York will likely not meet the new vote threshold to retain its ballot line. Gloria Mattera, co-chair of the New York State Green Party, discussed the next steps for the party and the left-wing efforts in the state.

Voter suppression has become a real issue in recent years. Mostly, what we hear on voter suppression are Democrats correctly accusing Republications of disenfranchising people of color and poor and working-class people. I want to call your attention to the voter suppression activity by the Democratic Party in the 2020 election. In a number of states, Democrats actively tried to keep the Green Party off the ballot.

ALBANY, NY — It's not easy being Green.

The Green Party of New York is feeling blue but vowing to fight on after failing to get enough votes in the presidential election to remain on the ballot in the Empire State.

An election law overhaul related to New York's soon-to-be-implemented public matching funds program significantly increased the threshold needed for parties to retain their line on the state ballot ― a blow to a liberal third parties.

We’re furious. Livid. Seething.

The Democrats spent the last four years demonizing the Green Party. They blamed us for their failures.

They told lies about Jill Stein acting like a Russian tool. We saw how they undemocratically kicked us off the ballot in state after state, but continued to cynically whip up hysteria about a vote for Green candidates.