Jill Stein and the Green Party--Election Results
It was a disappointing election for supporters of the only party and the only candidate who supported most of what Bernie Sanders supported. Jill Stein and the Green Party definitely did better than in 2012, but still fell far short of the gold 5% popular vote level, and even the silver 3% popular vote level that would have done wonders for this third party.
Still, there is some really good news, so please read on!
Although votes are still being counted (so expect some minor changes), here are the current tallies:
Popular Vote Totals for Jill Stein:
2016: 1,242,493 votes
2012: 469,627 votes
Percentage of popular vote for Jill Stein:
2016: 0.97%
2012: 0.36%
Even though she got a hair under 1% nationally overall, Jill Stein captured the biggest popular vote percentages (over 1.5% of the vote) in the following states (highest on top):
Hawaii: 2.91%
Oregon: 2.44%
Vermont: 2.31%
Kansas: 1.98%
Maine: 1.90%
Alaska: 1.80%
California: 1.71%
Montana: 1.58%
Okay, okay . . . but who really cares?!? What does it matter that the Green Party got a couple or few measly percentage points in some states?
Well, it actually did matter.
The Green Party is now on the ballot automatically for 2018 and 2020 in 20 states and Washington DC. This is 12 states more than in 2016. The places Greens will automatically be on the ballot (should there be Green candidates) include:
California
Colorado
Connecticut
Florida
Hawaii
Louisiana
Maine
Maryland
Michigan
Mississippi
Missouri
New Hampshire
New Mexico
New York
Oregon
Pennsylvania
South Carolina
Vermont
Washington DC
West Virginia
Wisconsin
This is very important for a third party because getting on the ballot in each election year costs money. Consider--the Green Party this year raised in the low millions of dollars for Jill Stein's campaign. There was one point where they announced she had made $1 million in contributions that were going to be federally matched. The following weeks saw more influx of contributions, but we're probably not talking more than $3 or $4 or $5 million total raised for the entire campaign.
Edit to add: Wikipedia shows Stein spent $3.144 million on the campaign. So, on the low end of my estimates above.
In one state alone, it cost the Green Party about $50,000 to get her on the ballot. Multiply that (give or take) by 41 states, and you can see how that takes up a lot of those few millions. That leaves the candidate with much less money to travel, rent locations for campaign events, and buy campaign ads.
With 12 fewer states to need to raise money to get on the ballot, that'll free up a lot of money for the next presidential campaign.
So, a silver lining there for a progressive third party. Thanks to a lot of people here who voted Green.
Thank you!
Ante Penultimate
Comments
WA State hasn't finished counting the vote
Here in WA, we had a major effort to write-in Berniecrats down-ballot. I've heard that over half a million ballots containing write-in votes were submitted by WA voters on Tuesday. (I need to confirm that number, but given Bernie's strong showing in WA in the caucuses, and the determination of his supporters here, it would not surprise me at all.)
For those ballots, the write-in votes are hand-tabulated prior to the ballots being machine-scanned for party nominee votes. Some of us who wrote in down-ballot Berniecrats voted for Stein/Baraka, and some wrote in Bernie for president. There were quite a few Bernie-or-busters in WA.
Because they're still hand-counting the write-in votes, we don't know how many of those ballots were voted for Stein. Once the machine-scanning is done, I would expect the WA vote to increase Jill's share of the national popular vote. Not to the magic 5%, though. I suspect it will be enough to get the Greens on the ballot in WA automatically in 2018.
"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi
"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone
My understanding is you have to be a registered write-in
candidate for president for the ballot to be counted in Washington. Bernie was not registered here as a write-in. For the down ballot races, I could not find any info regarding write-in eligibility. I voted Stein and wrote in my primary choices for governor, Senate, and Congress critter. Not sure if they will be counted. All the incumbent Dems in our state are pro-TPP. Going forward, I will not vote for the incumbent or Republican or Democrat unless there is no other choice. We need to do what Maine has done and get ranked choice voting instituted.
"Those who make peaceful revolution impossible will make violent revolution inevitable." - JFK | "The more I see of the moneyed peoples, the more I understand the guillotine." - G. B. Shaw Bernie/Tulsi 2020
I'm still not sure either
I'm still not sure on that point, either. It sounds like you did what I did: voted for Stein/Baraka and then wrote in for governor, etc.
The Bernie or Bust folks posted a statement from someone in the WA SOS's office, saying that you could write in whomever you wanted, whether or not they had formally registered as a write in candidate. According to that statement, SOS said the write in votes would count (i.e. be reported in the official election results) if the candidate got enough votes to put them in contention, or words to that effect. I don't have the statement in front of me so can't quote it. I don't know what legal effect the statement would have. I've gone through the WA election laws and regs, and those are clear as mud on this point.
The duopoly isn't set up to take into account anyone but itself. Something's got to give there, and ranked choice voting might be the way to make that happen.
"Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep ... Don't go back to sleep."
~Rumi
"If you want revolution, be it."
~Caitlin Johnstone
Gary Johnson did much better
So when enflamed hillaroids start shrieking about 3rd party voters to deflect from their own responsibility for Trump, just portion all the Stein votes to Clinton, all the Johnson votes to Trump. The result:
MN: Trump 48.9 Clinton 48.7 10EV*
NH: T 51.5 C 48.5 4EV
CO: T 49.4 C48.6 9EV
NV: T 48.8 C 47.9 6EV**
So that spells a Trump landslide, with a 29 elector swing from 306-232 to 335-203.
* Giving all the McMullin votes to Clinton, since they must be real Trump haters and there was no green
** Dem dirty tricks kept the Greens off the ballot
Enflamed Hillaroids - Hahahaa.
I love that. Funny and pretty accurate depiction.
They are all over Tweeter like a plague of locusts.
And I agree with the Trump landslide analysis if 3rd parties were verboten.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
If 3rd parties were verboten,
the practice of leaving ballots blank would probably be the standard way of declaring "A pox on both your houses". Even with them, it's not uncommon: from Michigan, "87,810: Number of voters this election who cast a ballot but did not cast a vote for president. That compares to 49,840 undervotes for president in 2012.". Then consider the margin of victory for Trump in Michigan; 13,107. (.3%, whereas 3rd parties garnered 5%).
That's What I did - TWICE!
Due to our infamous Jungle Primary here in CA, twice I ended up with ONLY DINO DiFi running against a Republican hack for the Senate. No write-ins are allowed for statewide offices. I thus left that part of the ballot blank to express my disapproval of a Senator whose husband's Pentagon contracts turned her into a Republican tool.
Vowing To Oppose Everything Trump Attempts.
Ha! Gives new meaning to "Preparation H"
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
Their ad campaign is:
It's MY burn!
The current working assumption appears to be that our Shroedinger's Cat system is still alive. But what if we all suspect it's not, and the real problem is we just can't bring ourselves to open the box?
Damn it! You guys really need to stop this shit! I am damn tired
of having to clean crap off of my keyboard, monitors or both!
Seriously, a large portion of why I finally replaced my old keyboard was due to the amount of crap in it, largely caused by you guys and your damned humor!
Humor is VERBOTEN! (Just ask an Kos-sack)
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Now Is The Time For The Revolution To Pick A Party
Now while there are 4 years to build up a party into a real condender before 2020. Maybe it's the Greens. Maybe it's a new Progressive Party.
What happened to the Revolution after Bernie moved to the darkside?
- A small sliver of it went to Stein undoubtedly. Growth in Stein totals supports that.
- "Our Revolution" took a chunk. Too bad it is a Clinton scam.
- The rest must have gone "Lesser Evil", or stayed home disillusioned.
The real question is did the Dems succeed in putting down the rebellion and fragmenting the Revolution into splinters.
Thanks for this analysis of Stein results. Tripling her vote totals is great news.
Donnie The #ShitHole Douchebag. Fake Friend to the Working Class. Real Asshole.
"The Enflamed Hillaroids" would make
a great band name.
"Please clap." -- Jeb Bush
May your Hillaroids shrink without surgery
"The justness of individual land right is not justifiable to those to whom the land by right of first claim collectively belonged"
Points for Hillaroids!
Hillarious?
Hey! my dear friends or soon-to-be's, JtC could use the donations to keep this site functioning for those of us who can still see the life preserver or flotsam in the water.
"Hillaroious", i think, would be the spelling.
"I’m a human being, first and foremost, and as such I’m for whoever and whatever benefits humanity as a whole.” —Malcolm X
I like the Greens
It's a simple message people can understand and says it all, "Turn our economy green; move into the 21st century!" and "Change! Dammit."
Green votes not counted in NC
The state Greens got Jill Stein approved as a write-in candidate, meaning if you wrote her in, it would count separately but totals from my county keep showing zero votes for her, but maybe 1400+ write-ins grouped together. (This is a county that went for Bernie in the primary.) I know my husband and I voted for her, and I took a photo of my ballot. I was going to give some time for final totals then file a complaint - the clerk did not give me complete instructions but I knew from checking online how to vote.
Stein was a write-in in Georgia too. I early voted by
machine, carefully typing in my vote. I reviewed my ballot before casting it. I can't find any results for Stein in my state or county.
Oh, and Hillary lost BIG in my county! I tried to convince the county Democratic Party that the party was withering away and that we needed to go with Bernie,but they were with her. They keep saying that when enough POC move into the area the county will turn blue. Well, we now have a black mayor of our county seat. He's a Republican!
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
Jesus, that response REEKS of an ownership mentality.
Many of my friends from other ethnic backgrounds feel like the DNC has been acting like it was OWED their votes for quite some time.
I wonder if that was a factor in why so many either didn't vote at all, voted 3rd party or Trump.
The Democratic Party needs to engage in some serious self reflection.
Something I think that their egos and sense of intellectual superiority likely precludes ever occurring.
"I used to vote Republican & Democrat, I also used to shit my pants. Eventually I got smart enough to stop doing both things." -Me
Now you know what happened to the Democratic Party in
Georgia. They got stupid and arrogant.
"The object of persecution is persecution. The object of torture is torture. The object of power is power. Now do you begin to understand me?" ~Orwell, "1984"
I consider it quite a success for the Green Party
and Dr. Stein. To disagree is to say that one does not understand what the Green Party is up against.
"I can't understand why people are frightened of new ideas. I'm frightened of the old ones."
John Cage
Where did you get the data?
I've been looking for some kind of table, and the best I could find was the Wikipedia article. But there were complaints on the discussion page that some of the data was just copied and pasted from 2012, so I'm still looking.
We can’t save the world by playing by the rules, because the rules have to be changed.
- Greta Thunberg
And how do we know Shill's numbers weren't pumped up
at Jill's expense? We know now that it can be done (Fraction Magic), and we know that Team Shills would do anything to increase Her advantage.
But I don't think it could ever be proved. It sure looks fishy, though. And smells it.
There is no justice. There can be no peace.
Wikipedia
for the vote and percentage stats. It should be easy enough to check against any of the mainstream media election sites or the secretary of state sites in each state. I don't have time to do that right now.
As to the ballot status in states, that's from Jill Stein herself:
12 New States Tweet
It may not be the data you want
but I read my numbers off the cool Guardian map.
Not shown in the numbers is that
The Green Party has a much high public profile and name recognition than it did before this election. So. the tiny but significant numbers can be a foundation for further growth.
The Greens may never be a mass party, but I think they can become a conscience of the nation.
Mary Bennett
WE need to create and wield political power
Ponies are nice too.
IS time for Greens to take over their own party and replace ineffective state and national chairs that really don't don't give a crap?
http://caucus99percent.com/content/how-could-polls-be-so-wrong
FDR 9-23-33, "If we cannot do this one way, we will do it another way. But do it we will.
The "party" is all
but dead. If it was going to happen - 5% mark - it would have happened this year. Still, supporters might as well keep plugging.
the little things you can do are more valuable than the giant things you can't! - @thanatokephaloides. On Twitter @wink1radio. (-2.1) All about building progressive media.
Bernie was right
Looks like the only way for progressives to be heard is take over the Dem party. The Green Party's showing this time around wasn't encouraging. The 2020 campaign starts now, hopefully with Keith Ellison as DNC chair.
"We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."
Bernie was right
Looks like the only way for progressives to be heard is take over the Dem party. The Green Party's showing this time around wasn't encouraging. The 2020 campaign starts now, hopefully with Keith Ellison as DNC chair.
"We've done the impossible, and that makes us mighty."
I believe ranked - choice voting is the key
to making the Green Party relevant.
The times require immediate corrective action on national level. Therefore a gradual buildup of local successes is an inadequate response. I start with the idea that the Green Party is the best place to go. I would like to float a "thought balloon" concerning ranked- choice voting, if I may.
I won't go through the argument that RCV is the way to break the duopoly, but I believe it..
Jill Stein raised the issue during campaign, and now GP says they will follow up.
They have already held a mock RCV election on line to choose an ice cream flavor.
What I wonder is this:
The idea is : 1.RCV is easy.
2. Will make a difference.
I see GP hitting (1) a bit , but no (2) at all yet. Here is my question:
Couldn't GP hold a mock general election do-over with RCV in place?
Just conduct a poll with 2 questions: 1) rank trump-clinton 2) rank all four (option for fewer)
In principal it doesn.t sound that tough to do. Then we apply RCV and see what's "really real", as they say.
The results of the second election might be interesting. No idea what it would cost GP but I would kick in.
Any ideas? thx.
stein - baraka
2020
edit(grammar, sp.)
IT always help the 3rd tier candidate
SO lets say it helps the Greens, they become a national party displacing the Dems....
The the FCV is going to help the Dems, now the cycle repeats.
I think its far more important for progressive mainstream Greens to replace their ineffective niche state and national chairs:
http://caucus99percent.com/content/how-could-polls-be-so-wrong
FDR 9-23-33, "If we cannot do this one way, we will do it another way. But do it we will.
(No subject)
Not on the ballot in mine
Maybe start petitions right now to get the party on the rest.