Greens denounce Wisconsin Supreme Court ballot decision
From the Howie Hawkins/Angela Walker campaign:
September 14, 2020 - Green Party nominees for President and Vice President, Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker, rejected the decision handed down earlier today by the Wisconsin Supreme Court, to deny placing them on the November 2020 ballot. The Green Party has been on the ballot in Wisconsin for every presidential election since 1996.
Several years ago, the workers of Wisconsin occupied the state capitol building with shouts of “this is what democracy looks like.” Angela Walker mobilized her Milwaukee transit workers local union into that defense of workers’ rights. Unfortunately, today, the state Supreme Court demonstrated something completely different from what most people consider to be democracy: a choice on their ballot.
“The court majority failed to recognize the partisan Wisconsin Election Commission’s repeated unlawful actions, said Andrea Mérida, campaign manager.” Mérida continued, “now we have a dangerous precedent where a major party can effectively decide which minor parties can participate in elections, by conjuring up arbitrary requirements on the fly to remove its opposition. Regardless, the fact remains that we met all of the legal requirements for ballot access and followed the WEC’s instructions to the letter with regards to Angela Walker’s change of residence.”
“We were screwed. As the dissenting opinion explains, the actual facts and the law show that we are qualified for the ballot. Partisan hacks should not be running elections for their own parties. They set up the absentee ballot snafu. The decision is a travesty of justice,” said Hawkins.
“Our campaign rejects the idea that we should be punished for what the court majority considers an untimely legal response. As noted in the dissenting opinion, our campaign filed only two days after the Commission certified their list of independent candidates. As a working-class campaign that cannot afford attorneys on retainer, unlike the two major parties, it takes time for us to find legal representation, formulate a response and file documents,” Angela Walker said.
The campaign is currently weighing out its legal options, and Wisconsinites may now have to write-in Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker in order to vote for the only presidential ticket that fights for a Green New Deal, Medicare for All, and fair elections and ballot access. The campaign vows to continue to fight alongside the Wisconsin Green Party to regain its ballot status, which will require one percent of the statewide vote, or about 20,000 votes.
Supreme Court Damages Democracy and Denies Voting Rights
This July, a courageous band of Wisconsin Green Party (WIGP) volunteers braved the risk of contracting COVID-19 to get our presidential ticket of Howie Hawkins and Milwaukee’s Angela Walker on the ballot. We turned in 3966 signatures of Wisconsinites who wanted the choice to vote Green, almost double the minimum requirement.
On Monday, the Wisconsin Supreme Court invalidated the voices of those Wisconsinites, and the hard work of those volunteers, in favor of an expedient solution.
The Green Party has long fought for voters’ rights, including the 2016 recount effort that brought unprecedented transparency to our flawed voting system and resulted in unreliable voting machines being decertified, with a comprehensive investigation of voting machine source code still pending in the courts. The Wisconsin Green Party did not delay the printing of 2020 ballots, although the state’s dubious bureaucratic maneuvering in the face of pending ballot access lawsuits nearly did. The Democratic Party members of the Wisconsin Election Commission refused to accept the signatures of qualified, eligible voters we turned in. Why? Because Angela Walker moved in July.
WIGP Co-Chair Dave Schwab said: “When you break it down in plain English: we submitted 3966 valid signatures of people who supported Howie and Angela being on the ballot for President and VP. Why should the fact that she moved from one apartment to another in the same town in South Carolina during the campaign disqualify not just her, but Howie too, from running for national office?”
This disqualification was the last, successful barrier placed in front of the WIGP and Hawkins/Walker campaign, but the WEC made it harder than it should be, as the dissenters to this decision pointed out. The Republican and Democratic duopoly will always collaborate to keep political outsiders out. This is one reason why almost half of eligible voters in the US don’t vote.
WIGP will mount a vigorous write-in campaign for the Hawkins/Walker ticket over the next 49 days, with the goal to win at least one percent of the statewide presidential vote. Reaching this goal will ensure that Wisconsin voters will have a pro-worker, pro-climate, pro-democracy alternative to the corrupt corporate duopoly.
Greens demand ballot decision today
From the Howie Hawkins/Angela Walker campaign:
September 14 - The Green Party candidates for president and vice-president are demanding that the Wisconsin Supreme Court put them on the ballot today.
“The court should have made a decision by now. We want a decision today to put us on the ballot. We want the absentee ballot process to proceed without further delay,” said Howie Hawkins, the Green presidential candidate.
The delay in the printing of the absentee ballots that are supposed to be mailed out by September 17 was precipitated by objections by Democratic members of the Wisconsin Elections Commission (WEC). WEC staff certified that over 3,000 signatures on the Greens’ ballot petitions were from qualified voters, well over the 2,000 required.
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What the Dems aren't telling you about Wisconsin
From the Howie Hawkins/Angela Walker 2020 campaign:
Well, we finally made the mainstream media, but while 2016 was all about slandering Stein/Baraka as Russian assets, this year it's that Howie and Angela are tools of the Republican Party that are denying people in Wisconsin their absentee ballots.
Nothing could be further from the truth. The Green Party's track record as being the party of election integrity is clear. We are the ones regularly pressing for integrity from elections authorities around the country. We are the ones pushing to replace bad voting machines with auditable paper ballots and ending voter suppression via racist voter ID laws and party suppression.
The simple solution in Wisconsin is for the Democrats to immediately stop playing games and using delaying tactics to prevent voters from being able to support third-party candidates, get new ballots printed that include Howie and Angela as a choice, and send them out. Both major parties collude to boost their own electoral chances in a myriad of ways and deny voters' and candidates' major rights.
So what exactly is happening in Wisconsin? Here's a quick run-down:
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HAWKINS/WALKER CAMPAIGN BLASTS DEMOCRATS’ MANUFACTURED CRISIS IN WISCONSIN
From the Howie Hawkins/Angela Walker campaign:
Today the Wisconsin Supreme Court ordered that absentee ballots should not be mailed until it decides whether to place Green Party candidates Howie Hawkins and Angela Walker on the ballot. The Court will review the actions taken by the Democrats on the Wisconsin Election Commission in keeping the Green candidates off the ballot. The Court is seeking additional facts to make a decision in this critically important case involving voter choice.
“The courts are right to be skeptical of this manufactured delay caused by the Democrats,” said campaign manager Andrea Mérida, “Had the Democrats on the Elections Commission avoided violating basic due process at the hearing, we would not be in this position. Instead, the hyper-partisan Democrats on the commission denied our campaign the right to present evidence and should have dismissed the challenge from the beginning because our campaign followed the commission staff’s instructions to the letter regarding Angela Walker’s address change.”
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WI Greens Ballot Drive for Hawkins/Walker 2020
UPDATE FRIDAY 7/31: 4 days left! Please get us any petition signatures you have ASAP. If you can drop your petitions off with us in Milwaukee or Madison, please do so. If not, please mail them ASAP. Petitions must be in Friday's mail for us to be reasonably confident we'll get them before the deadline. Thank you!
Wisconsin Greens are going all out in the last week of our petition drive to put original Green New Deal champion Howie Hawkins and Milwaukee's own Angela Walker on the ballot in Wisconsin as our 2020 Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates!
We have only until Tuesday August 4 to collect at least 2,000 valid signatures. To make it happen, we need the help of everyone who wants the opportunity to vote Green this year. We need people to sign the petition, and collect signatures either as volunteers or as paid petitioners. Here's how to help:
1. Sign the Petition! If you can print, print out the petition. If you don't have printer access and you're in the Milwaukee or Madison areas, submit our petition request form and we'll do our best to get petitions to you. Ask your friends, family, co-workers, neighbors etc. to sign too. Every signature helps! (see below for how to submit your petitions)
2. Collect Petition Signatures! We need people to help collect signatures, either as volunteers or as paid petitioners. We are offering $1 per valid signature to people who can collect at least 20 signatures between now and Monday August 3. If you are interested in petitioning either as a volunteer or as a paid petitioner, please contact our Ballot Access Director Barb Dahlgren at at [email protected] or 708-829-5315.
We need as many people as possible out collecting signatures between now and August 3 to make sure we reach our goal! See below for important information for petitioners.
3. Submit your Petitions! Once your petitions are complete, make sure to fill out and sign the Certification of Circulator at the bottom of each sheet (do not fill out the page number). PLEASE SUBMIT YOUR PETITIONS AS SOON AS POSSIBLE SO WE RECEIVE THEM BEFORE THE DEADLINE!
If you are outside the Milwaukee or Madison areas, mail your petitions as soon as possible, and no later than Friday July 31st, to:
Wisconsin Green PartyPO Box 108Madison, WI 53701
If you have significant numbers of signatures in your possession after the Post Office closes on Friday, and are unable to personally deliver your petitions to Madison or Milwaukee, contact Barb Dahlgren, [email protected] 708-829-5315 to figure out an alternative way to get us your petitions.Milwaukee area: Drop your petitions off at:Barbara Dahlgren1928 S. 56th St.West Allis, WI 53219
Milwaukee area contact: Barb Dahlgren, [email protected] 708-829-5315
Madison area: Drop your petitions off at:
Dave Schwab20 N Franklin St.Madison, WI 53703
Madison area contact: Dave Schwab, [email protected] 518-610-2708
4. Important information for petitioners
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Help Angela get on the ballot in her home state!
UPDATE: Unfortunately Angela Walker's flight was cancelled and she will be unable to make it to Milwaukee tomorrow. We will try to reschedule ASAP. Sorry for the inconvenience. For now, please read on to find out how you can help us get Angela on the ballot in her home state!
We're excited to announce that Angela Walker, the Green Party's 2020 Vice Presidential candidate, will be visiting her home city of Milwaukee to meet voters and gather signatures to get the Hawkins/Walker Green Party Presidential ticket on the ballot in Wisconsin!
If you can, please join Angela for a Socially Distant Petitioning and Safe Hugs event at Washington Park, 1859 N 40th St, Milwaukee, near the swimming pool (see map).
Wherever you live, it's up to us to make sure that Angela gets on the ballot in her home state - and that everyone in Wisconsin has the opportunity to vote Green this year.
We have only until August 4 to collect at least 2,000 valid signatures. We need people to sign the petition, and collect signatures either as volunteers or as paid petitioners. Here's how to help:
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2020 Presidential Petition Drive Jul 1 - Aug 4 | petition forms UPDATED 7/29
Hi Greens,
Happy 4th of July! This year we can not only celebrate freedom in general, but also the specific freedoms to run for office and our First Amendment right to petition. Attached we have our presidential petition which will require 2000 to 4000 signatures in the month of July to achieve ballot access for our presidential contender. I will have hard copies to pick up shortly (or deliver to your region if you are far from Milwaukee and unable to print). The 4th is a great day to be the first to sign your nomination papers and pass them to friends and family. We will need all of the original pages with signatures back by July 30th in order to ensure they get to the Wisconsin Election Commission on time. You may drop them off or send them to 1928 S. 56th St. West Allis WI.
Landscape version of presidential petition (pdf) Portrait version (pdf)
We have plenty of opportunities for volunteers, which if you or a friend would like to become a volunteer, you can sign up on our website: https://www.wisconsingreenparty.org/volunteer. We will need people to phone/text bank, lead newer petitioners in petitioning, regional folks who can pick up signature sheets in their area and send them, and of course, petitioners. We may also have opportunities for petitioners to get paid for petitioning as well.
Thank you for all your time and energy. We are the people we have been waiting for!
Go Green!
Barbara Dahlgren
Wisconsin Green Party Co-Chair
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Sign for back of your clipboard.
Hawkins/Walker Flyers
Four Lakes Green Party Statement of Solidarity with Green Party Lavender Caucus
The Four Lakes Green Party chapter of the Wisconsin Green Party passed the following statement on June 17, 2020:
In matters of identity, the Green Party takes its lead from the caucuses as experts of their own lived and collective experience. The National Lavender Green Caucus has told us that the “Declaration on Women’s Sex-Based Rights” is "a document intended to deny trans people their bodily autonomy and freedom of expression." AND "The National Women’s Caucus affirms our support of the Green Party platform section concerning Sexual Orientation and Gender Identity. We support our colleagues in the Lavender Caucus in achieving and defending these rights. Our caucus policy is that transgender women are women. We do not support the division and oppression of one oppressed group by further oppressing another."
The Four Lakes Green Party stands with the caucuses and other committees of the Green Party of the United States in affirming our support for all women and rejecting oppression.
WI Green Party 2020 Presidential Nomination Vote Results
Wisconsin Greens have voted and the results are in! In the presidential preference vote, 50% of first-round votes went to Howie Hawkins, 47% to Dario Hunter, 1.6% to David Rolde and 1.6% to none of the above. With 4 delegates available, Hawkins and Hunter win 2 delegates each.
Barbara Dahlgren, Jo’Nathan Kingfisher, Mike McCallister, and Tiffany Anderson were chosen as delegates to the Green Party US Presidential Nominating Convention. Dave Schwab, Jennifer Kedroske, Nero Grok-Gallagher, and Monte Letourneau were chosen as alternate delegates.
A proposed WIGP bylaws amendment to lower the voting threshold from two-thirds to 60% was approved by 90% of the vote.
Thank you to the candidates who took the time to join us at our Spring Gathering to speak about the issues, and thank you to the Green Party members who participated!
Read on for a full breakdown of the results.
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