In order for the Greens in New York to retain official party status in 2002, we have to obtain at least 50,000 votes in the Gubernatorial race. That is the only way that state election law provides for a party to be created. The Republicans and Democrats have discussed doubling or tripling the number of votes required; they would likely make the decision on the last day of the legislative session.
The State Committee will hold a meeting on May 25th in Ithaca to nominate candidates for Governor, Lt. Governor, Attorney General or Comptroller. If more than one candidate per offices gets 25% of the vote of the state committee, or more than one candidate goes out and collects signatures, there will be a primary in September. The State Party can not use party resources to support candidates in a primary. However, the party can continue to build support for the green party throughout the process. Local greens can support whomever they want.
Individual candidates will have their own campaign structure, and make contact you in the next few months to help them out. We encourage you to provide assistance to all greens participating in the process, so that all our members are fully informed about the candidates.
Below are some ways that local green groups can begin to help in the effort to maximize our vote total for Governor in the 2002 election.
1. Organize Organize Organize.
The stronger your local group is, the stronger the green vote total will be in your community. Continue to do the work of building your local organization.
A. Obtain a copy of enrolled greens from the Board of Elections on computer disk. Send a copy of the list to the State Party chairperson. (Craig Seeman, 41 Sydney Place, Brooklyn NY 11201. Cseeman@earthlink.net. 718 797-0045) Look up the phone number of all the enrolled greens. Contact each enrolled green - by phone, by letter, in person - to ask them to get involved, to host a house meeting about the greens for their neighborhood. Get their e-mail address.
B. Compile a list of other progressive groups in your community. Get them on your database. Share the names with the state greens. Send them your local newsletter
C. Develop a written local organizing plan for your community. How can you best help the greens grow in 2002. Set goals for voter registration; how many meetings do you want to hold each month; agree to do a certain number of protests or actions each month; identify three key issues that you want to help organize on; set fundraising and membership goals for the year. Set realistic timelines for your plan and divide up responsibilities. Discuss how you are going to educate more people about the greens - letters to the editor, radio shows, leafleting, tabling at events or street corners. Develop a green newsletter to keep your members and community residents informed about the exciting things the greens are doing.
2. Designate a Local Campaign Coordinator for the Gubernatorial Campaign
It would be very helpful to have someone in your county or local that has agreed to help coordinate with the state campaign. This is the person we or the candidates can contact for information about local issues; will take responsibility to help distribute literature, signs, buttons; will help organize events with the statewide candidates; will coordinate get out the vote efforts; will reach out to other organizations to ask for their support; and help with media. Of course your local group will probably want to divide up these responsibilities among a team of individuals but it is helpful to have one person who is the campaign coordinator, while also provide us with the names and contact information for whomever is coordinating particular aspects (e.g., distribution of press releases).
We will also have a statewide campaign committee which will divide up similar tasks statewide. We need individuals to volunteer to coordinate similar activities statewide.
3. Adopt A Buddy - Adopt a New Green Community or County
We need green organizers in as many communities as possible. Many counties in upstate do not yet have an organized local or county organization. Adopt a county next to yours and take responsibility to get the list of enrolled greens from the Board of Elections. Ask your existing members if they have contacts in the other county. Convene a meeting in that county to try to get a local group started - or at least find a contact who will help coordinate the campaign for Governor.
In your own county, there are probably areas of the county where the greens are not yet strong. Try to pick one or two new towns or villages to organize a meeting in during the next few months. Ask people to volunteer to being a town, city or election district coordinator.
4. Do Voter Analysis
Do the work now to help identify green voters. Ask your existing members to give you the names of ten, twenty, fifty of their friends who are greens in heart - add them to your database, invite them to a meeting, be ready to get them to vote green on election day.
Get the voting results by election district for the 2000 Green Presidential (Nader) and Senate (Dunau) races, and the 1998 races. Calculate the percentage of the vote that the greens got in each election district. Identify those election districts where the Green voting percentage was highest. These are the districts where you should do most of your outreach in, especially in the last few weeks before the election.
The Greens do best with voters under the age of 30. Where are they concentrated?
5. Recruit candidates to run for Congress, State Legislature, and State and County Committee
The more candidates we have running for office, the more candidates we will have pulling voters to the green line. However, it is important that in 2002 that we focus on pulling voters to the green line for Governor; running on other ballot lines weakens that efforts. Make sure that candidates you recruit understand the importance of maintaining the ballot line, and that they agree to include the Gubernatorial candidate on their outreach literature and in their get out the vote efforts.
Petitioning to get on the ballot as a green will be in mid-June and early July.
We also need people to run for internal Green Party positions for state committee and county committees. The petitioning for these positions are at the same time for other elected offices, and follow the same rules (e.g., 5% of the enrolled greens in the district must sign a formal nominating petition, which is filed with the Board of Elections). The committee people are greens who agree to help build the party at the state and county level. Committee people are expected to devote at least a few days with the election process, particularly helping local with the get out of the vote effort on the few days before the elections. Each election district (the small neighborhood district where you vote for all elections) is supposed to elect two people. Recruit as many county committee people to run as possible (and they can run in a different election district if there already two in the election district they want to run for).
(To legally create a county organization under state election law, 25% of the county committee seats are supposed to be be filled. Contact the state party for more information>)
6. Plan Now to Take Off Election Day (and the day before if possible)
Election Day is by far the most important day in the election cycle. We want thousands of greens working on election day to make sure that our supporters get to the polls. Plan your schedule now to be able to devote as much time on election day; the day before; the weekend before; and the three weekends before.
Start thinking now about how you can organize a phone bank for the get out the vote effort. By far the best way to phone bank is to have people call from a central location rather than doing it from home. Are their friendly small business people, attorneys, etc. that have four or five phones that you can borrow on weeknights or weekends. Many Planned Parenthood offices have phone banks they will rent at nominal fees to pro-choice candidates. Find out now if they do that in your community.
7. Make the Greens More Visible in the Community.
Develop a coordinated schedule for greens to regularly send letters to the editor of daily and weekly newspapers; make sure they include greens in the letter. Keep track of major events in your community and hand out leaflets about a green legislative or local issue, or about an upcoming green event. Hold monthly community forums to explain the green position on election reform, universal health care, global warming, genetic engineering - and what local residents can do to help win this issue. Support the work of other local and regional progressive organizations - co-endorse their rallies, turn out green supports (wearing green buttons or with your local green banner). Testify at greens at public hearings at the town, city or county level.
Do volunteer work as local greens. Organize a green work party to clean up a neighborhood park. Organize a green food drive. Sponsor a workshop on how you can keep your lawn green without using pesticides.
Do more work in communities of color. See how you can help existing groups. Adopt a neighborhood, and talk to local residents to see what issues they are concerned about and then work with them to develop a plan to action to address them. If you have four local people who are willing to work with us, you can organize neighborhood actions like getting an abandoned house boarded up, or getting funding for an after school program.
Organize a green music or cultural event. Have fun. Be exciting.
8. Organize a Green Regional conference this Spring
Get greens from neighboring counties together to network, provide training on campaign skills, learn about issues, recruit new members.
9. Fundraise.
Develop a fundraising plan for your local community. Raise funds expressly to support your work on the November election to support printing literature, yard signs, mailings, buttons, phone banks, bumper stickers, travel. It would be great if you could open up an office for local volunteers. Hiring a part-time coordinator, pay a stipend to student interns in the summer and fall. The trick to fundraiser is to ask as many people as possible and the more personal the request (hey joe, can your spare ten), the more likely that people will contribute. Get a few bands to pay at a local bar, you get to keep the $5 or $10 cover charge. Have a spaghetti dinner. Hold house parties where you ask people for $25 and give them a half hour talk. Rent out the local roller rink at midnight and play reggae music. Do a car wash. Hold a 50-50 raffle. Send out direct mail solicitations. Do a phone bank fundraiser.
The state party of course would appreciate any spare change you have.
10. Organize Forums and Events with State Green Candidates.
There are several green candidates seeking statewide office. Invite them to come speak in your community, either individually or in a group forum. Help distribute their literature to local residents Arrange for them to appear on local radio or tv talk shows when they show up. Invite the press to the forum or hold a separate news conference.
Develop a short background paper on important local issues that you can share with the statewide campaign and candidates so they can be knowledgeable about local concerns when they speak in your community.
To volunteer at the state level, contact Mark Dunlea, Vice-Chair, Green Party, 156 Big Toad Way, Poestenkill NY 12140. 518 286-3411
