Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppression’ allege

[Ikari]

Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppression’ alleged | Fox News

“The Green Party denounces any effort to harass, intimidate or shame private citizens who signed a ballot access petition for any party or candidate,” National Green Party communications manager Michael O'Neil said in a statement to Fox News. “Our candidates have faced that kind of political bigotry for decades but employing it against regular citizens on this scale marks a new, shameful low.”

The Democrats succeeded in getting some 500 petition signatories to recant their signatures after alleging the petition was backed by Republicans (the party reportedly helped finance the effort), although no law specifies a process for such removal. The withdrawals left the Green Party short of the signatures needed.

...

"There was a great deal of pressure applied to [petition signers] to get them to withdraw their signatures. Multiple phone calls with strong language, and repeated letters," local Montana Green Party candidate Gary Marbut, who is running for state Senate but is not competing in the U.S. Senate race, told Fox News. (The U.S. Senate candidate for the party is Wendie Fredrickson.)

Same ****, "different" party. The Republocrats have long vied for control over who can and cannot be on a ballot to protect their Oligarchy from the will of the People. I don't vote Green, but I wish them luck in their upcoming court battle to get back on the ballot.

 

[trixare4kids]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppression’ alleged | Fox News



Same ****, "different" party. The Republocrats have long vied for control over who can and cannot be on a ballot to protect their Oligarchy from the will of the People. I don't vote Green, but I wish them luck in their upcoming court battle to get back on the ballot.

Democrats and their double standards... They are what they accuse others of doing. Crooks!

 

[Exquisitor]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

Democrats and their double standards... They are what they accuse others of doing. Crooks!

I guess they both got to play the game.

 

[Jetboogieman]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

This is exactly why.

1. Campaign Finance Reform.

2. Proportional Representation.

Will fix many of Americans problems overnight.

But since both parties hold the cards, they won’t let it happen... Unless you stand united and raise hell until they do.

But many of you are too invested in Partisan Politics to do that.

 

[Chillfolks]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

Fake News. Everyone knows only Republicans try to suppress votes they don’t like. This has to be a bunch of white nationalist pretending to be Democrats to frame them. Or is was Qannon spreading rumors. Democrats are always on the up and never try to influence elections. And even if they did do this it doesn’t matter because getting Trump out of office is all that matters and if cheating people out of more choices is what is needed then it’s justified because Orange Man Bad. I think I got all the excuses and spin in.

 

[Moderate Right]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppression’ alleged | Fox News



Same ****, "different" party. The Republocrats have long vied for control over who can and cannot be on a ballot to protect their Oligarchy from the will of the People. I don't vote Green, but I wish them luck in their upcoming court battle to get back on the ballot.

Here's another one: Kanye West kept off Wisconsin ballot by state officials after missing deadline by less than two minutes

 

[Moderate Right]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

Fake News. Everyone knows only Republicans try to suppress votes they don’t like. This has to be a bunch of white nationalist pretending to be Democrats to frame them. Or is was Qannon spreading rumors. Democrats are always on the up and never try to influence elections. And even if they did do this it doesn’t matter because getting Trump out of office is all that matters and if cheating people out of more choices is what is needed then it’s justified because Orange Man Bad. I think I got all the excuses and spin in.

It's the Boogie Woogie Bugle Boys

 

[Greenbeard]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

Nothing wrong with publicizing the GOP's scheme. If enough people who were duped decide to pull their signatures and the scheme fails, too bad.

The party’s removal followed revelations that the Montana Republican Party had bankrolled the $100,000 signature-gathering effort that put the Greens on the ballot and violated finance laws by not reporting the spending.

The Montana Supreme Court on Wednesday in a 5-2 ruling upheld an Aug. 7 ruling from district Judge James Reynolds that granted the requests of more than 560 people to remove their names from ballot petitions after they learned the Montana Green Party did not support the effort.

The 2019 Legislature passed a law requiring timely reporting of spending on minor party ballot-qualification efforts.

 

[poweRob]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppression’ alleged | Fox News



Same ****, "different" party. The Republocrats have long vied for control over who can and cannot be on a ballot to protect their Oligarchy from the will of the People. I don't vote Green, but I wish them luck in their upcoming court battle to get back on the ballot.

I had done petition work for the Green Party back in the day and that was absolutely infuriating. You do everything by the book and then you get contested and as long as they appeal it to an official in the right seat that is also of the same party or sympathy, you'll often lose.

And we were thwarted by Dems and by Repubs because the repubs thought if the Green party got on, it would open the door for the Libertarians. So they worked in unison to keep it just the two.

 

[Visbek]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

Same ****, "different" party.

Yeah, not so much.

Democrats aren't passing laws all over the US that are designed to prevent Republicans from voting. They aren't making false claims about fraud in an attempt to undermine elections either. They engage in far less gerrymandering. When Democrats basically took over California's state government, they didn't gerrymander districts; instead, they set up a fair system.

Democrats also didn't spend $100,000 to get a candidate on the ballot with the intent of undermining votes for Trump. In case you missed it, that's what Republican operatives did. It wasn't the Green Party gathering those signatures. Hence the lawsuit.

 

[Ikari]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

The Kanye West thing is a ****ing mess. Trump's team seems to be trying to push him into States, but Kanye never put anything together coherently enough and in enough time to get onto ballots. If he could do it, and had a platform and a following to do it, then sure by all means. But that is more Republocrat shenanigans to try to influence votes in swing States. The Third Parties push their ballot access early and actually go out to get sigs, and have a concerted effort to be on the ballots. And that's what the Green Party did in Montana, only to have the Democrats trying to undo their work through coercion of Montanans to revoke their signatures that were already gathered and turned in to throw them off the ballot.

Republocrats do not want political competition. They don't want an open system. They want a closed system they control and they set the rules to because then they can never lose power. The sides might teeter-totter, but they'll never be out.

 

[Mr Person]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

How is calling people on the phone, talking to them, and convincing them to rescind their support "voter suppression"?

It doesn't prevent them from voting, like deliberately kneecapping USPS so that a ballot that would otherwise arrive on time arrives too late and is not counted. Or like shutting down polling stations in Dem-heavy areas in order to produce hours-long lines, leading any number of people to decide the wait isn't worth it. Etc.

From the article, it sounds like Republicans were 'indirectly' hiring/funding canvassers to collect signatures for Green Party ballot access in a Kanye-like ploy to sap votes from the Democrats, and the Democrats retaliated by calling up the signatories, telling them of the Republicans role, and convincing them to withdraw their support.

How is talking to someone and convincing them to change their mind "voter suppression"?




Is the allegation that the Republicans weren't trying to get the Green Party on the ballot to sap votes, and that convincing someone to change their mind with a lie is "voter suppression"? That'd be silly. That's dirty fighting, something a certain POTUS does many times a day.

Or is it really as absurd as calling people and convincing them to change their mind "voter suppression"?

Words have meanings.




And this is why you really shouldn't trust Fox. They slap "'voter suppression' alleged" in a title and God knows how many people don't bother to read because it lines up with confirmation bias.

 

[Visbek]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

I had done petition work for the Green Party back in the day and that was absolutely infuriating. You do everything by the book and then you get contested and as long as they appeal it to an official in the right seat that is also of the same party or sympathy, you'll often lose.

And we were thwarted by Dems and by Repubs because the repubs thought if the Green party got on, it would open the door for the Libertarians. So they worked in unison to keep it just the two.

The Green Party didn't gather these signatures. The Republican Party paid $100,000 to get signatures for the Green Party.

Plus, signatures for all parties are challenged all the time -- and with good reason. For example, Kanye West's team faked 1,900+ signatures for the ballot in Illinois. They've been getting busted in state after state for faking petition signatures.

 

[Ikari]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

Yeah, not so much.

Democrats aren't passing laws all over the US that are designed to prevent Republicans from voting. They aren't making false claims about fraud in an attempt to undermine elections either. They engage in far less gerrymandering. When Democrats basically took over California's state government, they didn't gerrymander districts; instead, they set up a fair system.

Democrats also didn't spend $100,000 to get a candidate on the ballot with the intent of undermining votes for Trump. In case you missed it, that's what Republican operatives did. It wasn't the Green Party gathering those signatures. Hence the lawsuit.

Ain't no better throwing off third parties from the ballot through coercion. Can't take the competition, got to try to use slimy methods to avoid the competition all together.

 

[Linc]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

Democrats and their double standards... They are what they accuse others of doing. Crooks!

Republicans want the turd party Green weenies to throw a 3rd election this century. GOPs helped people sign their petitions. Only one party that can win stands for ‘we the people’, and that’s the Democrats.

 

[Greenbeard]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

The Third Parties push their ballot access early and actually go out to get sigs, and have a concerted effort to be on the ballots. And that's what the Green Party did in Montana, only to have the Democrats trying to undo their work through coercion of Montanans to revoke their signatures that were already gathered and turned in to throw them off the ballot.

The GOP (illegally) spent $100K to hire a private company to gather signatures, the Greens didn't have anything to do with it. When signatories were told what was going on, some unsigned.

 

[Visbek]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

Ain't no better throwing off third parties from the ballot through coercion.

There was no "coercion."

The signatures were collected under false pretenses, which is why those individuals withdrew their signatures.

 

[Linc]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

Yeah, not so much.

Democrats aren't passing laws all over the US that are designed to prevent Republicans from voting. They aren't making false claims about fraud in an attempt to undermine elections either. They engage in far less gerrymandering. When Democrats basically took over California's state government, they didn't gerrymander districts; instead, they set up a fair system.

Democrats also didn't spend $100,000 to get a candidate on the ballot with the intent of undermining votes for Trump. In case you missed it, that's what Republican operatives did. It wasn't the Green Party gathering those signatures. Hence the lawsuit.

Turd 💩 Party Green Weenies enjoy being Putin’s Bitch.

 

[poweRob]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

The Green Party didn't gather these signatures. The Republican Party paid $100,000 to get signatures for the Green Party.

Plus, signatures for all parties are challenged all the time -- and with good reason. For example, Kanye West's team faked 1,900+ signatures for the ballot in Illinois. They've been getting busted in state after state for faking petition signatures.

Which is a good thing. That is interference and as far as I'm concerned GOPers doing that interference should be charged as such. But when I worked at it, you had sheets to gather sigs on. You couldn't copy sheets or such, you had to go to the secretary of state and be issued the sheets. 20 names could be collected on each sheet. Then when it was challenged, all the challenger had to do was say "we challenge this signature" and the whole sheet would be tossed. No explanation needed for the challenge.

 

[Mr Person]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

Ain't no better throwing off third parties from the ballot through coercion. Can't take the competition, got to try to use slimy methods to avoid the competition all together.

According to the article, Republicans were 'indirectly' hiring/funding canvassers to collect signatures for Green Party ballot access in a Kanye-like ploy to sap votes from the Democrats, and the Democrats responded by calling up the signatories, telling them of the Republicans role, and convincing them to withdraw their support.

 

[Greenbeard]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

According to the article, Republicans were 'indirectly' hiring/funding canvassers to collect signatures for Green Party ballot access in a Kanye-like ploy to sap votes from the Democrats, and the Democrats responded by calling up the signatories, telling them of the Republicans role, and convincing them to withdraw their support.

Comparing exposing this fraud to the GOP's systematic efforts to disenfranchise eligible voters is nuts.

 

[Ikari]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

There was no "coercion."

The signatures were collected under false pretenses, which is why those individuals withdrew their signatures.

What false pretense? Did the signature pages say "Democrat" and after people signed it, the Republicans peeled off the tape to reveal "Green"? Or were they told that it's signatures to get Green Party candidate on the ballot? If they knew it was for Green Party Ballot access and signed it, then it seems legitimate. They weren't duped into supporting the Green Party access by being told it was for some other party. And let's not pretend that this was just Republicans trying to do crap like this in Montana.

Third-party proxy wars are not new in Montana. In 2012, supporters of Democrat Jon Tester spent $500,000 supporting the Libertarian Party candidate in hopes that he'd draw votes away from the Republican. It may have worked, as Tester won by 18,000 votes, while the Libertarian candidate received 31,000.

The Democrats, in their campaign to get Green signatures “taken back,” pointed out that this year, Republicans indirectly hired canvassers to collect signatures for Green Party ballot access.

“We are not naive about Republican Party operatives' motivations,” the Green Party’s O'Neil said. “They believe it undermines their counterpart within the two-party cartel. The Green Party rejects the idea of any candidate ‘taking away the vote’ of another candidate. Votes belong to the voters until the moment they are cast. Candidates must earn those votes.”

Your side did it too. Quite frankly, it would be great if the DNC and RNC started throwing tons of money at the 3rd parties to get on ballots. Invite us to your damned debates too. This is a Republic, the People should be presented with choice. Democrats aren't owed Green votes, Republicans are owed Libertarian votes. O'Neil is right, the votes belong to the voters, candidates must earn those votes.

 

[Ikari]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

According to the article, Republicans were 'indirectly' hiring/funding canvassers to collect signatures for Green Party ballot access in a Kanye-like ploy to sap votes from the Democrats, and the Democrats responded by calling up the signatories, telling them of the Republicans role, and convincing them to withdraw their support.

And Democrats did it previously with Libertarian candidates. So long as the signatures weren't fake and the people who signed them were informed it was for Green Party ballot access, then so be it.

 

[Greenbeard]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

What false pretense? Did the signature pages say "Democrat" and after people signed it, the Republicans peeled off the tape to reveal "Green"? Or were they told that it's signatures to get Green Party candidate on the ballot? If they knew it was for Green Party Ballot access and signed it, then it seems legitimate. They weren't duped into supporting the Green Party access by being told it was for some other party.

Apparently 560 people did feel duped, as they withdrew their signatures when the scheme was exposed.

Suggesting their signatures under false pretenses are legitimate but their informed decisions to withdraw them are not is bizarre.

 

[Ikari]

Re: Dems get Green Party kicked off ballot after pressuring petition-signers; ‘voter suppressionâ€

Apparently 560 people did feel duped, as they withdrew their signatures when the scheme was exposed.

After being pressured by the Republocrats. The main party doesn't want competition.

How were those 560 duped? Did the petition read "For Democrat Ballot Access" and then after they signed it, the Republicans scratched off Democrat and wrote in Green?