The Green Results for Decision 2000

Well not all the votes are counted yet, and it’s almost mid-December. But we can safely say where the Greens stand with this past election in the US Decision 2000, or shall I refer to it as other pundits have – Indecision 2000.

The Greens goal was to receive 5% of the national presidential vote. With this level The Greens would qualify for national funding in the next presidential elections in 2004. This would ensure the growth of the party. What was achieved this past November 7 was 2.7 million votes for Ralph Nader as President and Winona LaDuke for Vice President. The vote count was at nearly 3%, but many Greens still feel that we did exceptionally well this past election, despite the shortfall.

One big hurrah for the Green Party is that now the GP is the third largest political party in the United States, surpassing the Reform Party this election cycle. Those 2.7 million votes didn’t get the national funding for 2004, but they did help the party grow.

If you compare this year’s election with Nader’s running in 1996, there is a considerable difference. First of all Nader did some campaigning this time around, unlike in 1996. And the votes showed that with an increase of almost 400%, from 685,128 votes (final tally) to currently showing 2,703,869 votes in 2000. (Numbers taken from Ballot Access News web site.)

This year Nader had a lot of press coverage. Back in 1996, not many people knew of his running. Nader put his name on the ballot but did little campaigning. Many called the 1996 campaign the ‘un-campaign’.

Another big difference for this year is that The Green Party has ballot status in many more states than they did in 1996. The Green Party was put on the ballot in many states as a result of the 1996 election. At the time of the elections this year the Greens had ballot status in 44 states. This election gave ballot status for next election cycle for more states, like Iowa, who weren’t previously on the ballot, and retained status in those that had access. For a third party having ballot status is a very important key to growth. If your party isn’t on the ballot, it’s extremely difficult to get votes.

This past November people elected 20 new Greens into office, add that to the 12 elected this past spring, 30 new Greens were voted into office this year—a record for the Greens. We are growing!

Go To Page: 1 2

Articles in this Topic    Discussions in this Topic