Green Party of the United States - National Committee Voting

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Ranked Choice Vote Details

Ranked Choice Vote ID	914
Ranked Choice Vote	Steering Committee Vacancy Election
Type	Secret Ballot Revealed at Close of Polls
Number of Seats	1
Ranked Choice Vote Administrator	Darryl Moch
Phase	Closed - 1 Elected
Discussion	06-11-2018 - 06-24-2018
Voting	06-25-2018 - 07-01-2018
Presens Quorum	Two Thirds of Active Accredited States/Caucuses
Candidates	Violet Rose Zitola Preston Thacker Michael White No write-in votes

Background

On 6 May Michael Dennis announced to the National Committee his resignation from the GPUS Steering Committee effective 11:58 pm on 13 May.

Steering Committee terms run for two years -- the term for this seat began in 2017 and will run until the scheduled SC election in summer 2019.

No write-ins can be accepted, as nominees must accept their nominations by the end of the nomination period.

Candidate Information

Violet Rose Zitola
Politics is fundamentally about people. The most valuable resource that we have, within the Green Party of the United States, is the nationwide network of passionate, deeply committed activists who have worked so hard to get us to where we are. My most valuable contribution to the GPUS is to foster that network, to support, acknowledge, inspire, and empower others to speak up, get involved, and become leaders in this global movement that is so desperately needed today. Honestly, I'm very averse to being in charge of anything. I'd much rather be the quiet one behind the scenes, in a supporting role enabling others to reach their full potential. I'd much rather listen than speak.

What compels me to serve the remainder of Michael Dennis's term on the Steering Committee is the critical need to continue ongoing projects in NationBuilder. This is the specific task that I am both prepared and committed to accomplish. We have an opportunity to make much better use of this invaluable resource for fundraising and outreach. I have a strong background in IT, both as a senior systems engineer and research computing specialist, as well as a great deal of experience with NationBuilder specifically. Of course I also look forward to working closely on a regular basis with others on the SC and facilitating better communication and coordination with the various subcommittees, a role which I have had on an informal basis for many years, and which I can continue on a more formal basis as a member of the SC.

Over the years, I have served in various party offices at all levels from the Nashua River GRP local, to the state central committees in both Massachusetts and California, and on to many years in the national leadership, as an NC delegate, PNC delegate, member of various committees, ETC, Election Administrator, and Co-Chair of PCSC throughout the 2016 election cycle. I was recently elected and currently serve as Co-Chair of the Lavender Caucus.

I am a Green for life, and am delighted to provide compassionate guidance so that we are in the strongest possible position for 2020 and beyond. We will survive this storm. Thank you for your consideration.

Preston Thacker
Co-Chair, Green Party of Chatham County, GA; Alternate Delegate to the National Committee for the Georgia Green Party.

I am a proud Socialist, I believe in Scientific Eco-Socialism, and I believe that in order to produce real, lasting change, we must listen to the people so we can direct their action in a way that enhances all of society.

As Greens, we really need to focus on taking political power. We're useless without building power and having power, how can we expect to change things if we don't build our power both on the electoral level and in our communities?

We need Political Pluralism to break the two-party system. As a politician once said, "America is a one party state, but in their extravagance, they have two of them".

I believe that workers should control their workplaces. I believe in Black liberation, Latinx liberation, and Trans liberation. I believe in youth power, and I believe in Worker power.

I have been a member of the party since mid-2016, I joined during the Jill Stein campaign, and tabled every week for her campaign from August-November 2016, helped found my local party, which gained affiliation with the Georgia Green Party within a few months of my joining, and I was elected Co-Chair in January 2017.

I served as one of the delegates for the Green Party of Chatham County to the Georgia Green Party 2017 State Meeting, and at that meeting I was elected as an Alternate Delegate for the Georgia Green Party to the National Committee. I also met Jill Stein at that meeting and had a great talk with her about building power and getting people elected.

I serve in various capacities with Food Not Bombs, Community Action Team, feeding and giving necessities to the needy, as well as helping with organizing for groups such as the IWW, Savannah General Defense Committee, and various local solidarity groups.

I would greatly appreciate your vote, and if you have any questions or concerns, don't hesitate to text me anytime at (912) 436 7848.

Michael White
I came to the Green Party in 2012, contributing to Jill Stein's campaign. No one at National or WIGP noticed, even though I visited both sites and attempted to engage.

I reconnected with Jill in 2015. We both went to Harvard. She did everything there. I merely did my residency in Dermatology there. In 2016, we sat down when she came to Wisconsin and I agree to get more
involved. I became the Co-Chair in Wisconsin, for about 18 months. I filed the candidate paperwork for Jill and Ajamu with the state and I was the face of the campaign for the Wisconsin Election Commission, for some things. I worked on Jill's campaign and then coordinated the Wisconsin volunteers and worked on the recount effort.

I stepped down as Wisconsin Co-Chair, last November. I have been a Delegate to the National Committee for two years.

I agreed to run for Governor. I and my partner, Tiffany Anderson, are on the ballot for Governor and Lt. Governor.

I stand by the Green Party core values.

But, I want to help the Green Party to stop being a minor party that no one pays attention to. Frankly, many people in many states don't even know we are there. If they do know we exist, they think we cost Hillary the election. We don't project an effective public face, in most venues.

I believe we spend a lot of time and energy to gain internal political dogmatic correctness, at the expense of putting a core message out there, which voters will pay attention to.

I don't want to abandon any of our values. But, we have an opportunity to reach out to voters driven away from the other parties. We have a chance to start a new dialogue, outside of our own committed and
dedicated core group of believers.

I know my changes are extremely small at winning the election for Governor. But, I want to campaign as if I can win and will win. So, I want "to win the hearts and minds" of the voting public.

Michael Dennis thinks I should not work with Steering committee until after the election. I think that's a valid issue and he might be right.

But, as a Candidate, I want to engage the Steering committee and the National Committee, so we can assist all of the Candidates and actually win some elections. I believe having actual candidates participate in
our national leadership will pull the two elements together. Maybe, we can work as one.

I am NOT an "routine Green", if there is such a thing.

I am Old White Guy. I own guns. I served 20 years in the military, in two different services. I believe our foreign policy and our military adventures have been ill-advised (to use a polite term). But, I also
believe there are a lot of bad guys out there and that tacking a hack saw to our military forces is equally ill-advised.

I support the Republican Party values -- of Abraham Lincoln.

I support the Democratic Party values -- of Franklin Delano Roosevelt, Robert Kennedy, and Barack Obama.

I agree with the Libertarians on some issues.

My key issues are:

Climate Change and the on-going existential threat of environmental destruction. Our children's very future is threatened.

Voter access and integrity. I support all of the policies and proposals of the Wisconsin Election Integrity movement. I want to remove all obstacles to voting and voter registration.

I support the carbon tax and carbon dividend -- proposed by some Republicans.

I am investor and I support Free Market. But, I also worked in an auto assembly plant. I was an AFLCIO union member. I also don't trust corporate principles one iota. I think corporation boards are driven by
Green, period. I want to end Corporate Personhood, completely.

I want to hold the heads of big Pharma personally accountable for the opioid crisis.

I was mugged and pistol whipped on the streets of Detroit. My brother is a heroin addict. My sister dropped out of high school, then turned her life around and became a geologist. I have seen injustice ruin the lives of my friends and family. I have seen the effects of poverty on the streets of Detroit and in the ten different states where I have lived. I have friends who are cops and friends who have been harassed by cops because they are black.

I have friends in medical school, whose parents are sole survivors of the holocaust. I have friends who are Persian and Bahai' and whose families were executed in Iran. My father's family was Mormon. I have
friends who are staunch Mormons and others who talk about escaping from the Mormon control of their lives.

I support and demand equality for everyone. I swore an oath to defend that. I am sickened by our government playing racist and oppressive enforcement and support for dictators.

We need to change the way we fund education. Equal opportunity and superb schools is the way we can change inequality here.

I support a living minimum wage.

I support ranked choice voting. But, I am not going to campaign on that issue, because the discussion is beyond the attention span of the average voter, at the moment.

I want to get Tribalism out of American politics. I want to work with Dems and Republics at every chance we can get to make progress.

I am an idealist but also a pragmatist.

If you like my ideas, vote for me. If you have reservations or like someone else for any reason, don't vote for me.

WYSIWYG - (What you see is what you get.)

I speak a little Geekonics and work Linux software.

I raise bees, chickens, and grape vines.

My radio show is available at www.baroqueandbeyondradio.com

No write-in votes
Candidates must have self-nominated or been nominated and accepted that nomination before the end of the
nomination period.

The voting software used by the Green Party of the United States is free software, licensed under the General Public License v2 (GPL).