 July/August 2004
American Friends Service Committee Peacework Magazine Sara Burke, Managing Editor Sam Diener, Editor Pat Farren, Founding Editor 2161 Massachusetts Ave. Telephone number: Fax number:
pwork@igc.org Peacework has been published monthly since 1972, intended to serve as a source of dependable information to those who strive for peace and justice and are committed to furthering the nonviolent social change necessary to achieve them. Rooted in Quaker values and informed by AFSC experience and initiatives, Peacework offers a forum for organizers, fostering coalition-building and teaching the methods and strategies that work in the global and local community. Peacework seeks to serve as an incubator for social transformation, introducing a younger generation to a deeper analysis of problems and issues, reminding and re-inspiring long-term activists, encouraging the generations to listen to each other, and creating space for the voices of the disenfranchised. Views expressed are those of the authors, not necessarily of the AFSC. |
Green Party Presidential Nominee David Cobb Calls for "Safe States" Strategy and Instant Runoff Voting The Green Party chose David Cobb as its Presidential standard bearer for 2004, rejecting a last minute bid for an endorsement by Ralph Nader. Nader had previously rejected running as the Green nominee, and did not attend the Green Party convention. Green Party delegate from Oregon Xander Patterson reports, "This year, Cobb will concentrate on building the party and supporting local candidates in the 35 to 40 states where the convolutions of our system make a vote for him 'safe.' Most importantly, Cobb will aggressively promote electoral reforms such as Instant Runoff Voting (see fairvote.org) that allow voters to rank their preferences, to vote their consciences without throwing their votes away or inadvertently supporting candidates they view as the greater of two evils." Cobb explained that his priority is to build the Green Party at the local level. He said that President Bush poses such a danger to democracy that he will focus his campaigning in states that are not evenly divided between Kerry and Bush. Cobb called for Democrats, independents, and others concerned about the possible "spoiler" effect of his and other "third party" campaigns to publicly and actively support Instant Runoff Voting. "There is a solution to what some call the 'spoiler' problem but which is really a much deeper problem of widespread voter anger at and alienation from our electoral system. That solution is called Instant Runoff Voting. "Under Instant Runoff Voting, or IRV," Cobb explained, "voters can rank their choices, 1, 2, 3, etc. and make their vote really count. If no candidate gets a majority of the #1 votes, the second place and possibly other choices are used to choose a winner. Under this system potential voters are empowered and encouraged to come to the polls because there will be more choices of candidates and the individual voter's ballot will have more impact." Cobb criticized the Democratic Party. "The Democrats are quick to attack the Green Party, calling us 'spoilers,' but where they have had the chance to implement IRV, they have not done so in any state or locality that they control. Their behavior speaks volumes about the depth of their commitment to genuine democracy." Cobb also supports Proportional Representation to choose county, state or national legislatures. "The winner-take-all system is a 19th century anachronism. When the Soviet Union broke up into a number of smaller countries, not a single one chose winner-take-all as their voting system. All use a form of proportional representation. Indeed, the United Nations election administrator for Iraq has proposed the same thing for the projected January, 2005 Iraq elections. It's long overdue that the United States catches up with the rest of the world and enacts 21st century voting systems like Instant Runoff Voting and Proportional Representation."
Information from www.gp.org and www.votecobb.org.
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