Jill Stein on Government Reform Green Party presidential nominee; Former Challenger for MA Governor

Without freedom of choice in elections there is no democracy

Make voter ID laws obsolete and impossible

Johnson: Agree.

Stein: "We call for a constitutional right to vote, which would make these voter ID laws obsolete and impossible. We would ensure that every voter has the right to vote." From the 2016 Green Party platform: "Enact a national 'right to vote' law or constitutional amendment to guarantee universal, automatic, permanent voter registration, along with fail-safe voting procedures, so that eligible voters whose names are not on the voter rolls or whose information is out-of-date can correct the rolls and vote on the same day."

Clinton called for universal and automatic voter registration and a 20-day (or more) period of early voting in every state, before every election. Clinton talked about the fact that African Americans consistently rank among the most deeply affected by the contours of Voter ID laws.

We need ranked-choice voting in presidential elections

Yet we could break free from this trap with a simple reform called ranked-choice voting. Ranked-choice voting allows voters to rank candidates. If no candidate gets more than 50% of the first-choice votes, second-choice votes are factored in and so on. The system removes the fear that a vote for a favorite candidate could inadvertently help a least-favorite candidate. Ranked-choice voting is used in a growing number of American cities and is used on the statewide ballot in Maine.

But despite all their dire warnings about splitting the vote, the Democrats and Republicans have resisted ranked-choice voting and other reforms that would expand voter choice. It's time to stop settling for the downward spiral of voting for the lesser evil.

Supreme Court needs to be for the people and their rights

Jill Stein: We need Supreme Court justices who are ready to stand up for everyday people. That means to end the stranglehold that big money has on our political system. That means not only overturning Citizens United, but supporting that money is not speech and that corporations are not people. We need strong support for our rights as voters. The Supreme Court needs to be strongly in support of women's rights, the rights of immigrants, workers' rights and LGBTQ rights.

No money from lobbyists; No money from SuperPACs

Replace Electoral College with national popular vote

• Protect voters' rights by enforcing and expanding the constitutional right to vote (including a new amendment if necessary). Enact the full Voter's Bill of Rights guaranteeing each person's right to vote, the right to have our votes counted on hand-marked paper ballots, and the right to vote within systems that give each vote meaning.
• Make voter registration the responsibility of government, not a voluntary opt-in for citizens.
• Abolish the Electoral College and directly elect the President using a national popular vote with ranked-choice voting..
• Restore the right to run for office and eliminate unopposed races by removing ballot access barriers.
• Guarantee equal access to the debates to all ballot-qualified candidates.
• Reduce barriers to voting by making Election Day a national holiday.
• Enact simplified, safe same-day voter registration to the nation so that no qualified voter is barred from the polls.

Reject campaign donations from military-industrial complex

Stein called for all candidates to reject campaign contributions from military contractors. In 2014, military contractors gave $8.9 million to Democrats and $13.5 million to Republicans in Congress. Virtually all members of Congress focus on securing defense contracts for companies in their districts.

Term limits end guaranteed re-election & lifetime incumbency

Stein: The issue here is that Congress barely has a 10% approval rating yet it is re-elected with a 95% probability. Something is wrong with this picture. One of the problems is that incumbency provides enormous advantages--we need to overturn this system of automatic re-election. Insuring that there will be turnover is one way to help the American people achieve a more democratic result.

OnTheIssues:And what about the number of years? One popular proposal is 12 years in either legislative chamber, which would mean 2 Senate terms or 6 House terms.

Stein: Well, the limit should be somewhere above 1 or 2 terms, but not lifetime incumbency--decades of incumbency is a problem.

Confederate flag should be removed from all public locations

Stein: The Confederate flag is a terrible symbol of white supremacy and slavery. It should be removed from all public locations. But this is only a symbol. We need to go deeper to erase the institutional racism that lives on post-slavery--we've had lynchings and the Drug War and discrimination--we should address the incredible legacy of the criminal slave culture, from the criminal institution of slavery. We need to take action beyond changing flags---we need to take action on [racial disparities in] employment and housing, and an end to healthcare disparity. When you add up the impacts of those disparities, the average African American has 14 years taken off their lives. The average African American family had 10 cents on dollar wealth [compared to white families]--and under Obama that dropped to even lower.

Earmarks grease the skids for corruption

Stein: Earmarks grease the skids for corruption and for returning favors to campaign donors.

OnTheIssues: Is full disclosure enough?

Stein: They should be federally overturned; not only disclosed but easily challenged and removed. Currently it's very hard to find out about earmarks.--you have to be a full-time political junkie to figure it out. Earmarks should be disclosed, but there should be a simple procedure to challenge them.

Establish a constitutional right to vote

No corporate nor lobbyist donations; just small donors

A: [The Green Party doesn't] accept corporate money, and most of the Green parties have adopted a policy where they don't accept money from people who are the officers, lobbyists or otherwise are the surrogates for a corporation. So there's a firewall between us and corporations. If you're a corporate CEO, you can contribute money to the Green Party, as long as you don't hire a lobbyist. Most of our money comes from small donors, just everyday people.

Q: How do we get money out of politics?

A: I personally think it'd be great, if you have to work in the system, to have donors that you don't have contact with because just asking creates an expectation of a repayment. I think it's better that candidates are not in the business of fundraising at all. Anonymous online donations where people donate because they support the cause, not because they think you're going to do something for them or there's some implied payback, are really great.

No religious oaths for public office, juries, or citizenship

We call for:
• Ending discriminatory federal, state, and local laws against particular religious beliefs, and non-belief.
• The US Constitution states that there shall be no religious test for public office. This requirement should apply to oaths for holding public office at any level, employment at all government levels, oaths for juries and witnesses in courts, and the oath for citizenship.
• Prosecution of hate crimes based on religious affiliation or practice.
• Elimination of displays of religious symbols, monuments, or statements on government buildings, property, web sites, money, or documents.
• Restoration of the Pledge of Allegiance to its pre-1954 version, eliminating the politically motivated addition of "under God."
• Ending religiously based curricula in government-funded public schools.
• Ending the use of religion as a justification to deny children necessary medical care or subject them to physical and emotional abuse.

2002 Clean Elections repeal meant "throw the bums out"

A: After we passed campaign finance reform in Massachusetts, I was working on that issue, thinking, "Oh, it's the money that stops us from shutting down our incinerators."

Q: You're referring to the "Clean Elections Law"; what year was this?

A: It was passed in 1998. It then got repealed by the legislature after passing on a two-to-one margin via a citizen referendum. The people of Massachusetts passed it by a 2-to-1 vote, so it was an enormous victory and it took two years for the legislature to turn around and repeal it on a voice vote and to me that said, "Okay, we can't even change the system by changing the system--we actually have to throw the bums out." This is a long-term political struggle.

Q: But you need people to actually implement the will of the people if you're going to have a democracy?

A: Exactly. Then the Green Party came to me and said, "Why don't you keep doing what you're doing and call it a campaign for Governor?

Voter Bill of Rights: full public financing; paper ballots

1. Voter-marked paper ballot for all voting, and require that all votes are counted before election results are released.
2. Replace partisan oversight of elections with non-partisan election commissions.
3. Celebrate our democratic aspirations by making Election Day a national holiday.
4. Bring simplified, safe same-day voter registration to the nation so that no qualified voter is barred fro the polls.
5. Do away with so-called "winner take all" elections, and replace that system with instant runoff voting and proportional representation.
6. Replace big money control of elections with full public financing and free and equal access to the airwaves.
7. Guarantee equal access to debates.
8. Abolish the Electoral College and implement direct election of the President.
9. Restore the vote to ex-offenders who've paid their debt to society.
10. Enact Statehood for the District of Columbia

Building for the future makes America great

A: For us, it's about building and adapting for the future. There were great thing in our founding--we do need to protect our rights as defined by the Constitution. Those rights are perishing quickly right before our very eyes, with the extremely anti-civil-liberties positions adopted by the Obama administration. But while there are great things from America's founding, there are also not-so-great things. We need to be selective about what we worship in the past. We don't need to be arming state militias, for example. We are not counting African-Americans as 3/5 of a human being like at America's founding. And we don't tell women to stay in the kitchen and not be seen or heard or represented democratically.

PACs connect campaigns with rich donors, & disconnect public

A: We now have influence-peddling on steroids with Citizens United and the Super PACs. And Obama raising $1 billion for his campaign alone. We have a political system which is completely disconnected with the public, and connected instead with those with deep pockets who can find these campaigns with such extreme amounts.

Re-establish Clean Elections Law: end "pay-to-play"

The people of Massachusetts deserve a clean money campaign system that allows candidates to run for office without selling out to big money interests. Candidates who refuse to take tainted money should be able to compete on a level playing field.

The voters called for fundamental changes when they voted for the Clean Elections Law over ten years ago. Unfortunately, incumbent legislators who were profiting from the existing fundraising machinery repealed this reform on an unrecorded voice vote, opening the way to ten years of continued corruption and scandal. One of my top priorities will be to reestablish a clean money law that gives a fair break to candidates of integrity who refuse to participate in "pay-to-play" fundraising practices.

Insulate public health decisions from special interests

Special interests are not merely tolerated but are actually an integral part of the regulatory process. If we are to successfully respond to the threats posed by the use and environmental releases of neurotoxic chemicals, we must find a way to insulate public health decision-making from conflicts of interest that can corrupt it.