• 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.

NEWARK, NJ — When the two main gubernatorial debates take place this election season in New Jersey, Madelyn Hoffman probably won't be taking the stage alongside Gov. Phil Murphy and Jack Ciattarelli. But according to the Green Party of New Jersey candidate, she's not surprised.

After all, politics in the Garden State are "the best democracy that money can buy," Hoffman says.

Dear Chair Marc Berman and Chair Steven Glazer,

We are writing to request that the California State Assembly Committee on Elections and the State Senate Standing Committee on Elections and Constitutional Amendments convene a public inquiry process, to include public hearings around the state, to review California’s top two experiment and alternatives to it — including proportional representation for the state legislature and ranked choice voting for single-seat, statewide office.

• Challenged By Incumbent LD11 Democrats Political Campaign Director

On Tuesday June 15, the Green Party of New Jersey (GPNJ) appeared online via Zoom to observe the hearing for challenges to petition signatures for our assembly candidate in Legislative District 11, Dominique Faison. Joseph Fortunato Esq. was legal counsel for Ms. Faison and was able to stave off the challengers, Robyn Gedrich and attorney William Opel. During the lengthy six hour hearing Mr. Fortuanto was able to successfully thwart most of the challenges being made to Ms. Faison’s petition.

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.

On Feb. 15, Gallup released a poll saying support for a “third party” is at an all-time high. On March 22, state Sen. Roberta Lange, D-Las Vegas, introduced SB 292, which would make it harder for new or previously unqualified political parties to appear on the ballot in Nevada.

Supported by Democrats in the Legislature, SB 292 would double the number of signatures required to get on the ballot, from 1 percent to 2 percent of the last U.S. House statewide vote. It also would require the signatures to be spread equally over all four Nevada U.S. House districts.

U.S. democracy is in existential crisis.

The country already suffers from unrepresentative winner-take-all, single-seat-district legislative elections, a two-party duopoly, partisan gerrymandering, the corrupting influence of big money in politics, and an Electoral College and US Senate that give vastly outsized influence to some voters over others. In the case of the Electoral College, it can also prevent the presidential candidate receiving the most votes from being elected.

• Denounces Current Lawsuit Focusing Only On Ballot Design During Primaries

The Green Party of New Jersey (GPNJ) calls on the Fair Ballot Project and all coalition members to embrace general elections, too, not just primaries. GPNJ denounces this current lawsuit for chasing 'Democracy' because it promotes only the agenda of the mainstream political parties, instead of promoting democracy for all.

Redacted Tonight with Lee Camp

The Democrats are pursuing an ostensible "Voting Rights" bill that seriously undermines 3rd party politics. For additional information, please visit https://www.gp.org/hr_1.