Do you have a Wells Fargo bank account? Would you be willing to close it to stand in solidarity with Standing Rock?

The rejection of the drilling permit required to complete the Dakota Access Pipeline was a huge victory — but this fight is not over yet. Following the Army Corps announcement last Sunday, Standing Rock Leadership made a direct request to continue targeting the investors financing the pipeline.

So we’re joining efforts with 350 Seattle to target Wells Fargo, which has over $470 million invested in the pipeline and the corporation behind it.

If you have an account and would be willing to close it to stand with Standing Rock please fill out this form.

For those of you who are willing to take this action, 350 Seattle has created this handy advice page on how to move your money and find a values-based bank.

If you don’t have an account, but would like to support the day of action, please fill out the form.

Where: Wells Fargo Center, 999 3rd Ave, Seattle
When: Thursday, January 5th, 12 PM
What: #DefundDAPL: Mass Closure of Accounts

And please help spread the word on Facebook!

Washington is the only state in which a law enforcement officer can be prosecuted for use of deadly force only if malice (evil intent) can be proven. I-873 would eliminate this consideration when determining whether an officer committed justifiable use of deadly force.

Ready to work on this? The Green Party of Washington State is working with Washington for Good Policing on this initiative – and the final submission deadline is 31 December, so DO IT NOW!

To get petitions sent to you, send a message to hello@greenpartywashington.org.

SUGGESTIONS: Ask for 3 petitions and maximize your effort and the quantity of signatures you can gather by finding an event with a lot of people – Farmer’s Market, concert, progressive forum, Trump protest, etc. Even better, find someplace where there is a line – at the ferry, an entertainment event, etc. Still better, ask for 6 petitions, go with two friends and celebrate your full petitions with a cup or glass of something.

It beats sitting around and moping!  Thanks for all you do and will do!!

Now that the dust is settling around the presidential election, it’s become apparent that the Green vote – and Green issues – gained a lot of ground this year.

In short, our movement scored several victories!

Ballot Access – We maintained ballot lines in 12 states thanks to voters casting over 1.2 million votes for Jill and Ajamu. (We are on the ballot in many other states as a result of Green Party voter registration). In all, we now have ballot lines in 21 states!

Marijuana legalization – California, Massachusetts and Nevada all passed marijuana legalization (recreational and medical for those 21 years or older). Marijuana for medical use was also approved in Florida, North Dakota, and Arkansas.

Minimum Wage – In Alabama, Colorado, and Maine, the minimum wage will  increase to $12 by 2020; in Washington, the minimum wage will increase to $13.50 by 2020.

Repealing Citizens United – Washington state passed initiative 735 and California passed Proposition 59 calling for a constitutional amendment to abolish the illegitimate, court-created concepts of “corporate constitutional rights” and “money equals political speech.”

District of Columbia – A resolution in favor of DC statehood passed.

Ranked-Choice Voting – Maine and Benton County, Oregon both adopted measures approving Ranked-Choice Voting.

Standing Rock/DAPL – In this election, we also participated in the growing movement at Standing Rock being led by indigenous people.

We were the only presidential campaign to stand in solidarity with the water protectors, and Jill and Ajamu were the only Presidential and Vice Presidential candidates to actually go and lend their support. The campaign also sent a delegation for an entire week.

We’re proud of that record.

Also, Greens were elected at the local level! We elected 3 Greens in Minnesota, 5 in Michigan, 10 to 13 in California, and 1 in Florida!

Stein/Baraka Campaign Calls for Immediate Resistance to Trump and the Failed Two-Party System

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE – November 9, 2016

The Stein/Baraka campaign calls for sustained and organized resistance to president-elect Donald Trump and the rise of right-wing extremism in the United States. The campaign expresses solidarity and empathy with those who are traumatized by the election results and calls for an honest and sober reckoning of the collusion between the political establishment and corporate media that led to Donald Trump’s victory over Hillary Clinton.

“A New York Times poll reveals that 82% of Americans are literally ‘disgusted’ by this election,” said Dr. Jill Stein, Green Party presidential candidate. “This election is a reaction to what voters see as a toxic and corrupt political establishment and represents a wholesale rejection of it. The Democratic National Committee (DNC) sabotaged Bernie Sanders, who by all accounts would have easily trounced Donald Trump. Because of Wikileaks, we also know that the DNC actively colluded with corporate media to elevate Donald Trump as a ‘Pied Piper Candidate’ to encourage the most extreme elements of the Republican party,” she said.

She continued, “The DNC’s cynical political calculations, as well as the public’s mistrust and rejection of Clinton’s policies of endless wars for oil, disastrous trade deals, and support for Wall Street deregulation that crashed the economy and devastated the lives of millions — all this together has resulted in horrific blowback that puts us all in danger.”

“We stand in solidarity with the communities that have suffered from harassment, voter suppression, and now the trauma of a Donald Trump victory and what it represents,” said Ajamu Baraka, Green Party vice-presidential candidate. “We must build alternative power. We need principled and strong social movements that express and agitate for the needs of the American people, and a political party to represent that movement at the ballot box. Over one million people voted for the Green Party ticket. We are the electoral arm of that social movement.”

Green Party activists are hitting the ground running the day after the election. The Green Party calls for direct actions against the passage of the Trans-Pacific Partnership in the lame duck session, and is co-organizing for “Occupy Inauguration” demonstrations on January 20 and 21 (also the anniversary of Citizens United).

The party also commends several state-level victories for institutional reform in this election, including the passage of ranked-choice voting in Maine. Ranked Choice Voting would end the role of fear-voting in elections by allowing voters to rank their choices for president or other single winner offices. In addition, the Stein/Baraka campaign praises successful resolutions in Washington and California calling for a constitutional amendment to abolish corporate constitutional rights and the concept of money as speech.

“Don’t mourn, organize,” said David Cobb, Stein/Baraka campaign manager. “This government is premised upon the concept of ‘consent of the governed.’ We do not consent to Donald Trump and right wing rule. We do not consent to the establishment of corporate rule. We do not consent to Empire. We call for a peaceful, non-violent revolution by the ordinary people who were shut out of this terrible election by the leadership of both corporate political parties. The Green Party is prepared to be an instrument for popular power and a new politics of integrity that must rise up and replace this rotten two-party system,” he said.

Green Party of Washington State
https://greenpartywashington.org

For immediate release
Thursday, October 27, 2016

Contact:
Tim White, 360-378-5196, timwhite@rockisland.com

The Green Party of Washington State demands immediate correction of Spanish mistranslations in the state’s voting instructions

• Misleading Spanish pamphlets issued by Sec. of State Wyman will deter many Latino voters from voting on Nov. 8, say Greens

• Suppression of votes because of mistranslation violates the Voting Rights Act

The Green Party of Washington State is calling for immediate action to correct mistranslated voting instructions that may deter thousands of Latino voters in the state from voting in the Nov. 8 general election.

Greens said that the official General Election Washington State Voters’ Pamphlets sent out by Secretary of State Kim Wyman include confusing, incorrect, intimidating, and illegal mistranslation of the voting requirements in Washington.

“The Spanish mistranslation is certain to disenfranchise uncounted thousands of fully qualified Washington voters who may be frightened into not voting because of a low-level driving offense or other minor misdemeanor conviction,” said Tim White, member of the Green Party of San Juan County and 10-year election integrity activist who won the statewide court ban on uncertified voting systems.

“Washington Greens — with support from the Green Party of the United States — are demanding immediate steps to correct the errors,” said Tim White.

All 29 of the English editions prominently display correct voting requirements, including: “not under Department of Corrections supervision for a Washington State felony conviction.”

All three Spanish Editions prominently display incorrect voting requirements: “no estar bajo la supervisión del Departamento Correccional a causa de una condena por un delito del estado de Washington”

The literal translation of the Spanish text is “not under the supervision of the Department of Corrections by reason of conviction for an offense in the state of Washington”

Washington’s long-standing legal translation of “felony” in Spanish is “delito grave.” The lesser offense of “misdemeanor” is rendered as “delito menor.”

By itself, “delito” can be variously translated as “sin,” “offense,” or “crime.”

Following the lead of Wyman’s predecessor, Sam Reed, the Office of Secretary of State has been “reaching out” to the Latino community for years by issuing special, “extra” Spanish-only election materials rife with errors, omissions, inconsistencies, and faulty translations that suppress the burgeoning Latino vote.

2016 has seen unprecedented Latino registrations. Whether Washington’s new registrants will follow through and vote depends on whether they view one of Wyman’s official Spanish Voters’ Pamphlet, issued this year in three editions: Franklin County, joint Adams-Yakima Counties, and a statewide version.

“The mistranslation amounts to an anti-Latino voter suppression scheme. It’s not just a dirty trick, it’s a federal offense, because Yakima, Adams and Franklin Counties are the three Washington counties currently required under Section 203 of the Federal Voting Rights Act to provide all election materials in Spanish as well as English,” said Jody Grage of the Green Party of Washington State Coordinating Council.

The Green Party is demanding the following emergency measures to minimize the state’s disenfranchisement of the Latino electorate:

• A public apology from Secretary of State Kim Wyman to the state’s Hispanic citizenry.

• Recall and destruction of the illegal pamphlets.

• Correction of the online versions on the Secretary of State’s website.

• Review of all Spanish language web pages on the Secretary of State’s website and “MyVote” system.

• Identical review of Chinese and Vietnamese election materials issued for King County (Seattle), which is covered for those languages under the Voting Rights Act.

• Review of all “optional” and “outreach” election materials issued in additional languages.

• State-wide multilingual television, radio, newspaper and internet campaign to inform voters of the false information, and the correct requirements for voting.

The links below display fully documented side-by-side comparisons of English and Spanish editions. The Spanish mistranslation below is pasted from page 4 of the official 2016 General Election Voters Pamphlet, Edition 32: Statewide (Spanish). The identical false information is prominently printed on the same page 4 of the Spanish Edition Voters’ Pamphlets for VRA-covered jurisdictions:

Edition 1 (Spanish): Adams, Yakima
https://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/research/ED%2001%20(Spanish)%20-%20Adams,%20Yakima.pdf

Edition 1 (English): Adams, Yakima
https://www.sos.wa.gov/_assets/elections/research/ED%2001%20(English)%20-%20Adams%2c%20Yakima.pdf

We have been growing rapidly and are continuing to ramp up our infrastructure to do the important and necessary work that must be done this year and in 2017 and beyond!

And we now have gifts for all new and renewing members to encourage you to grow the Green Party and spread the word about our great candidates

Jill Stein and Ajamu Baraka!

If you join or renew your membership with the Green Party of Washington State, we are offering to send you one of three options:

2. A Jill 2016 bumper sticker and a 4″x5″ GPWA decal with logo for your car, laptop, or lunchbox:

Or 3. A GPWA embroidered patch with logo for your jacket, hat, tote bag, etc:

If you would like one of these gifts, be sure to join or renew your membership with the Green Party of Washington,

AND then contact us at hello@greenpartywashington.org to let us know:

1) the date you joined or renewed,
2) which gift you choose, and
3) your current postal address,

and we’ll mail your choice of gifts right off to you!

AND then share this page with your friends to encourage them to join or renew to get the same choice of gifts!

Be Seen Being Green!

A Green Party candidate receiving widespread media attention is a new concept and takes some getting used to. With all of the attention also comes the rhetoric that attempts to twist statements made by the candidate into something false. This past week, there have been many articles that have across asserted that Jill Stein is opposed to vaccinations. When asked about her stance, Jill Stein has always clearly said that she supports vaccines. She stated in an interview with the Washington Post “I think there’s no question that vaccines have been absolutely critical in ridding us of the scourge of many diseases — smallpox, polio, etc. So vaccines are an invaluable medication.”

However, some have taken Stein’s concerns about corporate influence within the FDA and CDC as pandering to the anti-vaccine crowd. Stein’s views about corporate influence in government are consistent with her positions, and this is no exception. When she answers questions about vaccinations, her stance that vaccines are essential to healthcare is so clear that it is strange that some would interpret her concerns about the industry’s influence in politics as anti-vaccine. This however, has been the case. One example is a Slate article that said Stein “watered down” her statement because she made a minor change in the wording of a tweet five minutes after it was posted.

On the other hand, the rumor debunking website Snopes calls claims that Stein is against vaccination are false. Stein has taken to Twitter over the past four days to set the record straight. Here are her tweets on the subject:

By R. Jones

Recently, Ansel Herz posted an entry to the Stranger Slog titled Dan Savage on Jill Stein: Just No. The post was mostly a transcript from a call-in segment of the May 24, 2016 episode of Savage Lovecast. Dan Savage is reiterating frustrations felt by a large number of Americans concerning the Green Party. There is serious worry that the Green candidate will be a spoiler, in essence handing the election to Donald Trump. Whatever Hillary Clinton may be, she is a known political entity that will likely influence the country in a political trajectory somewhere between Barack Obama and George W. Bush. Obama himself implied this when he famously said in reference to Clinton “I don’t want Bush-Cheney lite” in his speech on July 26th, 2007. Donald Trump is an egotistical autocrat that would likely spend his administration disassembling any public programs and institutions of democracy that he noticed were vulnerable. There is a difference between these two candidates.

There is also a difference between voting in a swing state and voting in a safe state like Washington. The Democratic Party has been winning Washington by larger margins despite the continued presence of minor party candidates. In Washington and other safe states, polling ahead of the election will let voters know that casting a ballot for Jill Stein won’t change how their state’s electoral votes are allocated. Each citizen’s right to determine and cast their own vote has to be the bedrock of any democracy. The Democratic Party’s concern that the Green Party divides the progressive vote is no more legitimate than our claim that they fail to earn it. Providing voters with more options means they are free to vote based on their values rather than their fears.

Having a candidate like Jill Stein in the race puts pressure on the other candidates to address the issues that her campaign brings to prominence. Hillary Clinton’s talking points and positions were certainly influenced by Bernie Sanders’s presence in primary. Now it is important for Jill Stein to make sure these issues continue to receive attention in the general election.
Minor party and independent candidates struggle to get the news coverage that they deserve. The dominance of the two party duopoly permeates into the realm of media. By running a presidential candidate, the Green Party has more opportunities for media appearances and can get its message out to a broader audience. That coverage ranges from the positive, such as Jill Stein’s interview in Real Change last year, to the negative, such as profanity-laden dismissals. This publicity strengthens the party and will allow it to run stronger state and local candidates in future races.

As disaffected Democrats and Republicans crowd into Green Party meetings, they are encouraged to choose how much they want to work on local and national campaigns. Those that do choose to work on the presidential campaign are encouraged to focus on opening the debate process and outreach to unregistered communities, as opposed to flipping Democrats. At the same time, Greens are critical of the Democratic platform and encourage reforms that would make their party more open to grassroots participation. The Green Party supports campaign finance reform and proportional representation, which would level the playing field for minor parties, and instant runoff voting (also known as IRV or ranked choice voting), which would completely eliminate the spoiler effect. These policies could become law with the support of Democrats and Republicans.

Those who are interested in running for office with the support of the Green Party in 2017 and beyond are encouraged to email us at hello@greenpartywashington.org. Let’s all take this election seriously while at the same time realizing there are legitimate reasons for disagreement. Above all, remember to turn in your primary ballots by August 2nd and your general election ballots by November 8th!

Authored by Ethan Rourke and R. Jones.

On Friday, July 8, the Board of Elections verified the Green Party of Washington’s petition to secure ballot lines for its candidates for the November general election. The party filed 1385 signatures to cover the 1000-signature threshold necessary for the party to be placed on the ballot.

Jill Stein, presumptive Presidential nominee of the Green Party, said: “I am so grateful to the volunteer petitioners and to everyone who took the time to sign our petition. This is what democracy looks like.”

Link to Jill2016 site